Harassment and Defamation need help

[Shaelynnjordan]

What is the name of your state? AZ

My sister and her two children were sharing a house with my sisters now former friend, and a little over a month ago her friend kicked her and her kids out of the house. They are now staying with me. When my sister got a u-haul to get the rest of her belongings she was told by her former friend that she couldnt come and get it because she had a restraining order put on her. They meaing her former friend (and her husband who does not live in the home) finally did agree to let my mother and myself go over their and load up all her and her kids stuff (however we were not allowed in the house). When we got the u-haul back to the storage facility we found out that my sisters computer was missing. I called her husband who told me that he didnt know what happened to it. Two days ago my sister went to court to fight the restraining order and the judge found in favor of my sister stating they was no evidence that any harassment occured and that she had no grounds of holding the order and the judge threw it out. My sister then got a police officer to go with her over to the house she was living in to get the rest of her stuff they were missing (such as her computer) which she could not find.
Today, my sister found out from one of her friends that her myspace page had been totally changed with the most horrible things written on it. when my sister looked it up her account had been totally changed her passwords totally changed. He was calling my sister the most horrible names accusing her of being on drugs and called her the most obsurd and obsene things I cannot even post them here they are too bad.
It is horrible . We have had 30 people coming to my door all day for ads that were placed on a local website saying that we were giving away free stuff and to come to this address (my house!). A truck stop where my sisters former friends husband goes to all the time has my sisters phone # written on the bathroom wall and says please call me im a Wh***. He has access to her email because he has her computer and there was an email sent from the storage facility giving my sister the next billing date and they recieved a response email not from my sister but from her email saying F*** u B**** Im not paying you. Thankfully she had a feeling it was not my sister and notifed me because my sister had to change her ph# because of all the harassing phone calls. SHe has gone down to the courts and filed a restraining order on both of them but is there anything else we can do. because my sister is trying to look for a job because of all this she has lost hers. and now has to change everything.
Any help would be great thanks

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? AZ

My sister and her two children were sharing a house with my sisters now former friend, and a little over a month ago her friend kicked her and her kids out of the house. They are now staying with me. When my sister got a u-haul to get the rest of her belongings she was told by her former friend that she couldnt come and get it because she had a restraining order put on her. They meaing her former friend (and her husband who does not live in the home) finally did agree to let my mother and myself go over their and load up all her and her kids stuff (however we were not allowed in the house). When we got the u-haul back to the storage facility we found out that my sisters computer was missing. I called her husband who told me that he didnt know what happened to it. Two days ago my sister went to court to fight the restraining order and the judge found in favor of my sister stating they was no evidence that any harassment occured and that she had no grounds of holding the order and the judge threw it out. My sister then got a police officer to go with her over to the house she was living in to get the rest of her stuff they were missing (such as her computer) which she could not find.
Today, my sister found out from one of her friends that her myspace page had been totally changed with the most horrible things written on it. when my sister looked it up her account had been totally changed her passwords totally changed. He was calling my sister the most horrible names accusing her of being on drugs and called her the most obsurd and obsene things I cannot even post them here they are too bad.
It is horrible . We have had 30 people coming to my door all day for ads that were placed on a local website saying that we were giving away free stuff and to come to this address (my house!). A truck stop where my sisters former friends husband goes to all the time has my sisters phone # written on the bathroom wall and says please call me im a Wh***. He has access to her email because he has her computer and there was an email sent from the storage facility giving my sister the next billing date and they recieved a response email not from my sister but from her email saying F*** u B**** Im not paying you. Thankfully she had a feeling it was not my sister and notifed me because my sister had to change her ph# because of all the harassing phone calls. SHe has gone down to the courts and filed a restraining order on both of them but is there anything else we can do. because my sister is trying to look for a job because of all this she has lost hers. and now has to change everything.
Any help would be great thanks

**A: thank you for your heartwarming post.

 

[Shaelynnjordan]

This whole situation has turned both out lives upside down. So thank you for the comment. Its appreciated. There has got to be something illegal about what he is doing and there has to be someway of suing him or something??? Does anyone know if there is a case here or not??

 

[quincy]

Your sister, if she has a lot of time and a lot of money, can sue for defamation. She will probably need an attorney to walk her through the steps. A cease and desist letter can be sent by the attorney first, which may stop the harassment.

She has already taken steps to get a restraining order, which is good. And she has changed her phone number, which is good.

And she should contact MySpace and have the account removed, and contact the other website and have the ad removed.

As for the number in the bathroom, there is not much she can do other than go there and scrub it off herself, or have the friend's husband remove it.

Nice friend your sister has.....what did your sister do to deserve all this???

 

[fairisfair]

your sister can file in small claims for the value of her property.

That said, she will need to be able to prove that the items were left there, and prove their value. Remember that the value placed on those items will not be ther replacement, but rather the current value.

So from the sounds of it, you are talking about a couple hundred dollars.

Uh, she knows her password doesn't she, close the myspace account.

change her email account and notify people that her email has changed.

Stay away from these "friends" and be a little more cautious about the kind of people she exposes herself, and her CHILDREN to.

 

[fairisfair]

Your sister, if she has a lot of time and a lot of money, can sue for defamation. She will probably need an attorney to walk her through the steps. A cease and desist letter can be sent by the attorney first, which may stop the harassment.

She has already taken steps to get a restraining order, which is good. And she has changed her phone number, which is good.

And she should contact MySpace and have the account removed, and contact the other website and have the ad removed.

As for the number in the bathroom, there is not much she can do other than go there and scrub it off herself, or have the friend's husband remove it.

Nice friend your sister has.....what did your sister do to deserve all this???

funny, you beat me. when has THAT ever happened.

I should have known you would smell the word defamation. LOL ;0)

 

[Shaelynnjordan]

Uh, she knows her password doesn't she, close the myspace account.

change her email account and notify people that her email has changed.

He has gone into these accounts and changed all the passwords becasue he has my sisters computer./.... believe me she has tried, all the passwords were on the computer ... He is now posting bulletins to all the friends and family my sisterhas on Myspace with bulletins saying the most outrageous stuff. These are going to EVERYONE ... including one of her children. Which we since have removed my sisters profile from her daughters list just so she wont see these horrific things being said about her mother/ This is an absolute nightmare. And just like anyone else out there... if my sister had any idea that someone would do these things to her she never would of befriended them ... but you just dont know.
So in a nutshell there is a defamation case here??? or no? thanks again for the feedback

 

[fairisfair]

He has gone into these accounts and changed all the passwords becasue he has my sisters computer./.... believe me she has tried, all the passwords were on the computer ... He is now posting bulletins to all the friends and family my sisterhas on Myspace with bulletins saying the most outrageous stuff. These are going to EVERYONE ... including one of her children. Which we since have removed my sisters profile from her daughters list just so she wont see these horrific things being said about her mother/ This is an absolute nightmare. And just like anyone else out there... if my sister had any idea that someone would do these things to her she never would of befriended them ... but you just dont know.
So in a nutshell there is a defamation case here??? or no? thanks again for the feedback

defamation suits are extremely expensive, difficult to prove, and difficult to collect on even if you win. And in this case it doesn't sound as if the perpetrator has any assets other than what he has stolen from someone else.

Has she reported her computer stolen? She should. Just in the off chance that somehow someday the police have occasion to be inside the property where it is located.


No offense, but it sounds like a bunch of juvenile idiot games, hopefully they will tire of it soon, that is truly the best you can hope for. People usually gravitate to those who are somewhat like them. so if your sister is participating in the idiocy, tell her to stop.

 

[Shaelynnjordan]

Nice friend your sister has.....what did your sister do to deserve all this???

Her former friend had kicked them out because the girls were doing laundry....I know that sounds so trivial but really thats what it all boiled down to...my sisters kids were doing a couple of loads of laundry and my sisters former friend started yelling (screaming) at them, telling them she was tired of them and so on... when my neice called her mom (my sister) who was driving home at this time and she could hear her screming in the background at her kids. She had my neice put her on the phone and asked her what the problem was and she was screaming so loud in the phone that she couldnt even understand her. She told her she would deal with this when she got home..... from there it escalated and this former friend went nuts and threw them out. My sister even had to call the police but the police (to keep peace for the night) made my sister and the girls grab just what they could and leave. and they showed up on my doorstep.

 

[quincy]

"Revolutions are not trifles, but spring from trifles." - Aristotle

I have a sneaking suspicion that there was more going on at this friend's house than wash loads. . . . .

At any rate, a defamation suit is possible based on the MySpace postings, if your sister can prove they were posted by this friend and/or her husband. (Why doesn't the husband live in the home?) She would need to prove damages (and the loss of her job, if it was directly related, can cover that). I think your sister would be spending far more money than she would be awarded in damages, however - especially since, as fairisfair said, most of what these two have seems to belong to your sister anyway.

Your sister can file a DMCA notice to have the MySpace taken down.
Your sister can report the computer stolen, as fairisfair suggested.
And your sister can draft or have drafted a cease and desist letter which, along with the restraining order, should stop the mischief these two have been up to. Court would be a last resort, as it is expensive, and there is never a guarantee your sister would win.

 

[Shaelynnjordan]

Thank you all for your advice and my sister thanks you all as well. We are just at a loss and it is getting worse , but like I told my sister dont fuel the fire and it will burn out. That was good advice until it just got worse anyway. The local police station told my sister to go to the FCC FBI Internet Fraud Complaint Center and gave her the web address. Anyone familiar with this and should we take it to this step of making it a federal issue, or is that exactly what this is?]
again thanks for all the advice

 

[quincy]

Well, it is Internet fraud. If the police suggested it, your sister could always check it out and decide if it's worth pursuing to that level. If your sister's friend and her husband are aware that your sister has contacted the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, that alone might stop all of the nonsense. Bringing a suit against them would probably not be necessary then.