Restraining order - How bad is it?

So....yesterday I got one.

My father did some electrical work about a month ago for a guy who was opening a NY Deli place here in South Florida. When it was time to pay he went missing (I tried calling him plenty of times).

Due to my dad's status, I decided to go to the place with an invoice...He started making up excuses, saying that the invoice wasn't legit because it didn't have the company address, etc...etc...and that he wasn't going to accept it (I purposely didn't put our address on it). I asked him what he wanted, he said the address on it so I told him I'd go print out a new one and that I was going to be back in a few minutes. Btw, the company is legit and licensed.

When I came back he immediately went to the back of the restaurant. A minute later a cop came in. The cop was incredible nice to me, he understood the situation and when we had a minute alone he told me, "don't let him get away with it...I've seen this happening plenty of times...just don't let him get away with it."
The guy then proceeded to ask the cop to write up a restraining order against me (when the cop got in his car, I was able to read on his laptop that he had called because I was yelling and cursing inside the Deli...lol).

I'm a temporary resident....and I'll be applying for permanent residency in about a year and a half. How bad is this for me? Should I do anything about it?

Pretty bad in my opinion, but nothing you can't fix.

My best advice is to appeal the restraining order. Get yourself a good lawyer and make sure you fight it and get rid of it.

Hrm... It sounds like bullshit to me. I think in many states, cops can issue a temporary protective order, but it only lasts a few days unless a court issues a permanent one. Depending on how much it is, it might be time to consult a lawyer or maybe even one of those law school legal aid places. If you weren't threatening to break the guy's legs, then I don't see how it can stand.

As for the debt, if it's less than $5000, take the son of the bitch to small claims court. A debt is a debt and your dad's status shouldn't matter (again, talk to the lawyer to make sure) since the court is a civil court and couldn't care less about that. If he doesn't pay, put a lien on his property.

*edit* Now I digress

Something like this happened to me at my old job where a restaurant owed some money to my boss for some services he had provided and wasn't paying the $500. The restaurant owners were Indian (not that it matters but their lack of English was funny). My boss told the guy if he didn't pay, he'd have us picket in front of the place. The Indian guys thought he was joking. He was not.

In the line of work we were in, winter was a slow time so we didn't have much hours. So my boss said he'd give us $50 to go do it and to make sure to stay on the sidewalk and never stop on their parking lot. It was funny but nerve wrecking too because although I had a state driver's license at the time, I didn't want it to get out of hand...and the two guys I were with didn't have shit either.

So anyhoo, I printed some nice signs at school with slogans like "XXXXX doesn't pay their bills". This was in an artsy part of town and a small street so people could easily see it. The bosses weren't there yet but I guess the employees saw us and called them so the boss told them to turn off the parking lot lights so it couldn't be seen.

Plan 2 for the Indian guys was to come there and threaten us. "You watch your health!" he said while shaking and visibly angry and tried to kick our sign. We told him we were on the city sidewalk.

Plan 3 for him was to call a cop they knew who did off duty work for them at times. The guy came and was amused but still didn't want to waste his time with that shit so he told us "Look, I understand, but I don't want this to get out of hand. Tell your boss he needs to get a protest permit from the city." Soooo after that, we all got out and left.

The next day my boss called the guys and told them "You owe me another $100".
"What for? For getting a protest permit"
"Shit, come pick up the check".

You can take him to small claims court. IN California you are allowed to contest any restraining order. Not sure about where you are at.

if it is a temp RO, then it's only good for a certain time. like 30 days or something like that. if the guy wants a PRO then he'll need to go to court and file for one. however, if you have to go to court about it, then tell the judge the situation, explain why you were there and ask for the cop to be there as well. here in CA, if the cop doesnt show up for court then most of the time the case is dismissed. i would go to legal aid if possible and ask them how you go about having it dropped. seeing how it's not due to domestic violence and it stems from a civil matter, then i would think it would be pretty easy once the civil matter is taken care of.

also, i would take him to small claims court for sure. that way, you have proof of why you were there in the first place. most of the time filing small claims is easy and can be done by yourself.

also, i would think about getting a PO Box just for business purposes so that in the future you can put the business address on invoices without having to put your physical home address on the invoice.

A restraining order issued by a cop is only temporary until a judge holds a hearing and signs off on issuing a more permanet one, could range from 2 years to even longer than that like the previous posters said get yourself a lawyer, present your case and get rid of it!!!! Did the officer took your mailing information because from what I know they have to serve you with the court date for that hearing. Simple fact is there was no physical harm so I doubt a judge would issue a restraining order on alleged verbal altercation.

How much money does he owe?

Thanks for all the advice. I tried contacting the officer to find out exactly what he had given me...I'm still waiting for him to call me back.

He owes $400 (but I told him I was willing to take $300 because that's what "he thinks" he owes). I don't think it's worth it to take him to court for that amount.