QUESTION #5
Can I legally resell items that I buy from art suppliers? I am starting a craft kit business. Each kit will contain items such as acrylic paints, scrapbook paper, etc. If I buy the paints and scrapbook paper from an art supply store, is it legal for me to then resell these items as part of my craft kits? Or do I need to become an authorized reseller of these items in order to include them in my kits?

ANSWER TO QUESTION #5 Other than perhaps some prohibition on the label of the supplies you are buying, limiting the resale ability of the same product, we cannot think of any restrictions upon doing what you are proposing;
Really, the key question will be a matter of profit margin, i.e., if you are buying these items and then packaging you will have to price your products to cover your prior payment of taxes on the first purchase, as well as the price of the products and then add some level of profit for your time. If you are buying these items from a wholesaler, and you have a re-sale license, then often times you will be able to escape taxation on the first transaction so long as your customer pays sales tax on the transaction from you to him/her.

QUESTION #6
In a fraud case, such as forgery of signatures on recorded Grant Deeds how are reasonable attorney’s fees and cost recovered? There were several transfers of real property before it was sold. The forged signatures were also notarized, actual money damages is hard to calculate, forged documents is under criminal but can you recover then in civil, if the courts wont prosecute in criminal?

ANSWER TO QUESTION #6
The claims for forgery arise both in the criminal area of the law (police/district attorney prosecute the same) and civil laws provide for claims against others and people assisting forgers.
Whether or not you can recover your attorney’s fees as part of a judgment against the forger would hinge upon the laws of the state in which the forger took place. In California, unless you have a contract between yourself and the forger which would allow for the recovery of attorney’s fees as part of a civil judgment, then you are out of luck on recovering the attorney’s fees. And, I have never heard of such a contract.
But see other contracts, and see examples of other contracts such as leases and the like.
On the issue of costs of court, (not attorney’s fees) such as filing fees, service of process fees, deposition fees, issuance of subpoena fees; on some occasions expert witness fees, the prevailing party is general allow to “tax costs” which means ask for them as part of your judgment, assuming they are the prevailing party.
The issue of recovering expert witness fees as part of the “costs” is a matter of the state law in which the claim is filed. And many states differ on the recovery of this type of “cost” – if it is allowed there a usually paperwork requirements which are part of the underlying lawsuit, that allow the prevailing party to recover such “costs”.

Respectfully Submitted,

Steven H Wilhelm