So I'm in the process of securing a lease on a new house along with 4 other people. We got a phone call from our potential landlord letting us know that someone replied to his craigslist post with the Subject: "Do not rent to Jane Smith" and the body read "awful tenant". (obviously the name has been changed). What is the legal recourse here? Is there any? Any advice? A friend suggested that we email back demanding a retraction or we will pursue legal action. Is this silly if all we have to go on is an email address? I appreciate all replies.
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Email Libel
- Thread starter futuregen
- Start date
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Proserpina
Senior Member
Well....were you/them awful tenants?
Why would this person say something like that?
Have you ever been evicted?
The name in the subject of the email was one of the people looking to lease the house. No, none of us have ever been evicted or been in bad standing with any of our landlords. We've been completely blindsided by the email and have been plagued with paranoia. The only people that knew about the place were supposed friends. The only motive we can arrive at is this: before we discovered this new place, there were one or two friends who were looking to find a new place and obviously turned to friends (Jane Smith) to room with. These people, we decided, were less than desirable and not someone we wanted to live with. Keep in mind that we were never rude or inconsiderate towards them nor did we mention to them how undesirable they were/are. So we might be chalking it up to 'if you wont live with me then you won't live anywhere'.
Proserpina
Senior Member
So...did you sign the lease?
A background check would be the simplest thing for any potential landlord to do.
we have signed a lease but he has still yet to make his decision. this email has definitely effected the whole process. he thinks either a) this person is honorable and really cares about warning the landlord or b) what the hell kind of people are these people hanging out with?
Zigner
Senior Member, Non-Attorney
He already HAS made his decision...as evidenced by your signed lease. I'm really not seeing the problem here.
quincy
Senior Member
You asked if it was silly to pursue the matter if all you have is an email address and the answer is, yes, it is silly.
There is no defamation action to pursue against someone who emails a landlord to say that you are an awful tenant, if that is the extent of the content of the email. The landlord should be looking at the source of the email and should probably ignore it if it is from another person wanting to rent the same apartment. But it is the landlord's option to rent to others instead of to you.
If you really want the apartment, provide the landlord with additional references. The landlord should have references from the landlords you have rented from in the past already, and you can provide work or school references.
There is no defamation action to pursue against someone who emails a landlord to say that you are an awful tenant, if that is the extent of the content of the email. The landlord should be looking at the source of the email and should probably ignore it if it is from another person wanting to rent the same apartment. But it is the landlord's option to rent to others instead of to you.
If you really want the apartment, provide the landlord with additional references. The landlord should have references from the landlords you have rented from in the past already, and you can provide work or school references.
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Proserpina
Senior Member
Me neither.
Signed lease = no damages.
And even if the landlord said no, OP has little recourse against an anonymous email author.
OP, you must realize how costly and time-consuming defamation suits are. You're talking at upwards of 40-50 THOUSAND dollars to litigate (thank you to senior judge for reminding me that most suits are much more expensive - I'm being cheap
) and at least 4-5 years.
quincy
Senior Member
Yup. For the cost of a defamation suit, futuregen and her friends could put a nice down payment on a house of their own (and, in some areas, even purchase a house outright). Solves the housing situation.
(I believe the average cost of defamation suit is somewhere around $180,000 now, but for ordinary person v ordinary person it costs much much less than that)
(I believe the average cost of defamation suit is somewhere around $180,000 now, but for ordinary person v ordinary person it costs much much less than that)
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Proserpina
Senior Member
Yup. For the cost of a defamation suit, futuregen and her friends could put a nice down payment on a house of their own (and, in some areas, even purchase a house outright). Solves the housing situation.
(I believe the average cost of defamation suit is somewhere around $180,000 now, but for ordinary person v ordinary person it costs much much less than that)
Oh my gosh quincy....that's horrendous!
Certainly going to store that piece of info though!
An honorable person would not send an anonymous email like that. If the landlord uses craigslist then surely he realizes that in 60 seconds anybody can set up an email account pretending to be anybody they want.
Zigner
Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Really? That's strange. I expect a signed copy of my lease upon my signing of the lease. I mean, why do you sign blank checks and hand them out too?
quincy
Senior Member
Yup. Love those NSF fees.
In his first post, futuregen said he was "in the process of securing a lease." I took that statement, and his later statement that the landlord "has still yet to make his decision," to mean that futuregen has not signed a lease but is using the word lease to mean an application for rental. Just as I mistakenly did in my post.
At any rate, I could have misinterpreted his words. Then again, so could have everyone else.
In his first post, futuregen said he was "in the process of securing a lease." I took that statement, and his later statement that the landlord "has still yet to make his decision," to mean that futuregen has not signed a lease but is using the word lease to mean an application for rental. Just as I mistakenly did in my post.
At any rate, I could have misinterpreted his words. Then again, so could have everyone else.
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