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Neighbors possible libel against me (apologise for length)

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S

Slipshod

Guest
What is the name of your state? PA

Tell me if I am crazy or if I may have a case here. I really don't want to pursue it but I am being threatened with a lawsuit myself and would like to have something to deter them with.

Background - I moved into a 35 year old house on 1.6 acres in April of 2003 in a nice neighborhood. My house was $120,000, it needs a few updates, but overall it's a very nice house. General house prices in neighborhood seem to range from $100K to $250K+. There is a yearly neighborhood picnic and most everyone we have met has been pleasant.

I just received an "anonymous" (I think I know who it is though) letter from one of my neighbors that apparently has been sent to everyone in our neighborhood. (envelope says 2 of 18)

This letter states that they had their house and property appraised because they may soon have to "turn their home into cash". The value seemed low to them.

They state they were penalized by MY property. They say the appraiser described our property as a "blighted property and house" and that "the indicators were in place to predict that the entire neighborhood was now succeptible to blight" for the following reasons: (my responses follow the **)

1. One blighted residence invites other like minded people to move in.

** - I take this as a PERSONAL insult as it is clear that they are talking about ME and not my property with the term "like minded people". The misuse of the term "Blight" is particulary offensive.

2. There is a perpetual garage sale in your neighborhood.

** - We DID have probably 6 garage sales over the summer to get rid of a lot of items dug up through the move. A lot, I agree, but hardly defined as perpetual. Noone asked us to not have them and we broke no local laws. Also, how would an appraiser know how many garage sales we had?

3. snow fence erected to keep leaves and debris out of neighboring property.

** - This fence was not erected by me but by my neighbor who told me that they were considering doing it when we were talking during the summer saying that every year, the whole neighborhoods leaves seemed to blow into his yard. I said sure, no problem. It is not on my land. Also, not erected until at least a month and a half after the last garage sale. Did the appraisal take place over 6 months time? Seems unlikely to me.

4. complaints made to township officials (4)

** - I have never been notified of any complaints against me or about me. I have no idea what they are talking about here.

5. vehicle (old boat) placed in yard (front).

** - The "old boat" has a brand new ($6,000.00) motor, a brand new ($1,500.00) cover, it looks nice and is registered and in operating condition in complete accord with local regulations on boat storage. Also not moved onto property until at least a month and a half after last garage sale making this list more suspicious in the claim that an appraiser actually listed all of these things.

6. toys strewn about property and neighboring wooded area.

** - My yard is HUGE. I have a 3 year old boy and YES... sometimes some of his toys are left in the (MY) yard. Nothing more than some balls and his little wiffle ball bat tee. The "neighboring wooded area" claim is just plain false. Even if it wasn't, it is part of my land.

7. summer furniture on porch in fall and winter.

** - I have 550 sq ft of porch in the back of my house. I have a picnic table and a loveseat/swing on my porch. These came with the house and sat out there for YEARS before I moved in. (we are friends with the previous owner) Another baseless charge.

8. garage door remains open revealing cluttered and unsightly garage.

** - a) our garage door has probably been open an average of 5 hours a week going back to April. b) Our basement has flooded FOUR times since we moved in, forcing us to keep things in the garage until we are sure we have the problem fixed. (which I think we have)

9. yard often contains litter

** - I would need this to be explained to me in more detail. I could go take a picture of my yard right now and have them try to find "litter".

The letter continues:


"We asked the appraiser what we could do - she said there are a few remedies available to us. It's time to gather and compare ideas. If this mess cost us $20,000.00, what will it cost each of us in the future? I am tempted to sell my house at a discount and then sue for the difference. The appraiser has seen this done, successfully: the problem is that we are not ready to sell just yet. I feel that if we don't stop this blight, we will see a trailor moved in next of maybe some junk cars."

** - (I left the poor punctuation and nearly incoherent last sentance intact from the letter)

The letter continues:

"I think we had better have a meeting, or go to the township meeting and ask for this to be stopped---- dress up because we will be on TV. January 1, 2004"

**- local meetings are on public TV.

- end of letter -

Now... I plan to write a "rebuttal" (that will look similar to my responses here) and distribute it to my neighbors.
This seems to me as if it could be Libel since they are trying to get the whole neighborhood against us. This has caused a lot of emotional stress for my wife and 15 year old daughter as well.

Am I right?


Also, while I don't think they have a chance in heck of winning a lawsuit against me for lowering their property values (especially based on that list) I wanted to see what people here think of their chances with such a suit.

Thank you very much for your time.
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
Slipshod said:
What is the name of your state? PA

Tell me if I am crazy or if I may have a case here. I really don't want to pursue it but I am being threatened with a lawsuit myself and would like to have something to deter them with.

Background - I moved into a 35 year old house on 1.6 acres in April of 2003 in a nice neighborhood. My house was $120,000, it needs a few updates, but overall it's a very nice house. General house prices in neighborhood seem to range from $100K to $250K+. There is a yearly neighborhood picnic and most everyone we have met has been pleasant.

I just received an "anonymous" (I think I know who it is though) letter from one of my neighbors that apparently has been sent to everyone in our neighborhood. (envelope says 2 of 18)

This letter states that they had their house and property appraised because they may soon have to "turn their home into cash". The value seemed low to them.

They state they were penalized by MY property. They say the appraiser described our property as a "blighted property and house" and that "the indicators were in place to predict that the entire neighborhood was now succeptible to blight" for the following reasons: (my responses follow the **)

1. One blighted residence invites other like minded people to move in.

** - I take this as a PERSONAL insult as it is clear that they are talking about ME and not my property with the term "like minded people". The misuse of the term "Blight" is particulary offensive.

2. There is a perpetual garage sale in your neighborhood.

** - We DID have probably 6 garage sales over the summer to get rid of a lot of items dug up through the move. A lot, I agree, but hardly defined as perpetual. Noone asked us to not have them and we broke no local laws. Also, how would an appraiser know how many garage sales we had?

3. snow fence erected to keep leaves and debris out of neighboring property.

** - This fence was not erected by me but by my neighbor who told me that they were considering doing it when we were talking during the summer saying that every year, the whole neighborhoods leaves seemed to blow into his yard. I said sure, no problem. It is not on my land. Also, not erected until at least a month and a half after the last garage sale. Did the appraisal take place over 6 months time? Seems unlikely to me.

4. complaints made to township officials (4)

** - I have never been notified of any complaints against me or about me. I have no idea what they are talking about here.

5. vehicle (old boat) placed in yard (front).

** - The "old boat" has a brand new ($6,000.00) motor, a brand new ($1,500.00) cover, it looks nice and is registered and in operating condition in complete accord with local regulations on boat storage. Also not moved onto property until at least a month and a half after last garage sale making this list more suspicious in the claim that an appraiser actually listed all of these things.

6. toys strewn about property and neighboring wooded area.

** - My yard is HUGE. I have a 3 year old boy and YES... sometimes some of his toys are left in the (MY) yard. Nothing more than some balls and his little wiffle ball bat tee. The "neighboring wooded area" claim is just plain false. Even if it wasn't, it is part of my land.

7. summer furniture on porch in fall and winter.

** - I have 550 sq ft of porch in the back of my house. I have a picnic table and a loveseat/swing on my porch. These came with the house and sat out there for YEARS before I moved in. (we are friends with the previous owner) Another baseless charge.

8. garage door remains open revealing cluttered and unsightly garage.

** - a) our garage door has probably been open an average of 5 hours a week going back to April. b) Our basement has flooded FOUR times since we moved in, forcing us to keep things in the garage until we are sure we have the problem fixed. (which I think we have)

9. yard often contains litter

** - I would need this to be explained to me in more detail. I could go take a picture of my yard right now and have them try to find "litter".

The letter continues:


"We asked the appraiser what we could do - she said there are a few remedies available to us. It's time to gather and compare ideas. If this mess cost us $20,000.00, what will it cost each of us in the future? I am tempted to sell my house at a discount and then sue for the difference. The appraiser has seen this done, successfully: the problem is that we are not ready to sell just yet. I feel that if we don't stop this blight, we will see a trailor moved in next of maybe some junk cars."

** - (I left the poor punctuation and nearly incoherent last sentance intact from the letter)

The letter continues:

"I think we had better have a meeting, or go to the township meeting and ask for this to be stopped---- dress up because we will be on TV. January 1, 2004"

**- local meetings are on public TV.

- end of letter -

Now... I plan to write a "rebuttal" (that will look similar to my responses here) and distribute it to my neighbors.
This seems to me as if it could be Libel since they are trying to get the whole neighborhood against us. This has caused a lot of emotional stress for my wife and 15 year old daughter as well.

Am I right?


Also, while I don't think they have a chance in heck of winning a lawsuit against me for lowering their property values (especially based on that list) I wanted to see what people here think of their chances with such a suit.

Thank you very much for your time.
**A: I read up to Background.
 
H

hexeliebe

Guest
I read the whole thing :eek:

And I still don't see anywhere in there that you have a claim for libel or slander. It's opinion and nothing more.

Like when you stand up in that town meeting and raise the letter high above your head and challenge "Let the snivelling coward of a prick who wrote this stand up like a man and face 'like minded people' or do you have the balls?"

It might be fun :D
 
S

Slipshod

Guest
And I still don't see anywhere in there that you have a claim for libel or slander. It's opinion and nothing more.
But isn't libel :

1: "complaint § 1" (used esp. in admiralty and divorce cases)
2 a: a defamatory statement or representation esp. in the form of written or printed words
specif
: a false published statement that injures an individual's reputation (as in business) or otherwise exposes him or her to public contempt
b: the publication of such a libel

They sent it apparently to the entire neighborhood with the express purpose of "stopping this" (whatevef "this" is) , thus harming my reputation in my neighborhood. Also saying that I am solely responsible for the lowering of property values is exposing me to public contempt.

Basically what I am looking for is if you think I could conceivably counter-sue if they attempted to sue me for $20,000.00 ?

I have no intention of just suing on my own, but if they want to play the "unneccesary legal procedings" game I coming back with both barrells.

I even have a speech ready:
"My family is suffering "emotional damages" due to these accusations and because they think the neighbors don't like us anymore, they no longer feel comfortable in the neighborhood.
All as a direct result of that letter your honor. We ask for reimbursement for all costs incurred from our upcoming relocation to a new neighborhood including all related moving and realtor/closing fees, as well as emotional damages etc..."

See? I can play the weasel game. :)
 
H

hexeliebe

Guest
And who wrote the letter, what damages have you suffered and how can you prove them?

Time to check back into reality. Neither side has anything to base a lawsuit on.
 
S

Slipshod

Guest
The letter writer will be revealed by the act of the lawsuit itself.

If we are forced to move out of the neighborhood due to "public contempt" generated from the letter, then I think the letter writer would be responsible for all associated costs involved.

If I am sued for $20,000.00 I would probably have to move anyway just to afford a proper defense.

I agree that neither side has a great case but I think reality is "it would depend on what judge saw the case".
 
H

hexeliebe

Guest
The letter writer will be revealed by the act of the lawsuit itself.
Really? And what if the lawsuit is brough by an association of your neighbors? The city? An attorney representing a blind corporation? Your grasping here.

If we are forced to move out of the neighborhood due to "public contempt" generated from the letter, then I think the letter writer would be responsible for all associated costs involved.
Think again. These are not 'damages' you can recover for. The decision to move would be yours alone. Not legally recompensible.

If I am sued for $20,000.00 I would probably have to move anyway just to afford a proper defense.
Again, a personal decision. (see above)

I agree that neither side has a great case but I think reality is "it would depend on what judge saw the case".
Only if the judge were deaf, dumb and blind.
 
S

Slipshod

Guest
Really? And what if the lawsuit is brough by an association of your neighbors? The city? An attorney representing a blind corporation? Your grasping here.
The lawsuit in question would occur AFTER the house of the person was sold for the alleged $20,000.00 loss. I would KNOW who it is for several reasons. I'm not dealing with a legal genius here as should be clear from their letter.

Maybe you missed something... there is no "blight" by even the most remote definition and Wal-Mart doesn't want to build on my land. I've spoken to two other neighbors and they think whoever sent it is completely out of line.

I don't even think the chances of a lawsuit being filed are very large at all. I think it is a VERY remote chance and I was just trying to get a feel for it's plausibility because it DOES depend on the judge.

I've experienced it firsthand in a traffic accident case where I had FOUR witnesses PLUS a Policeman on the scene backing up my side of the case but the Judge felt bad for the plaintiff and judged in her favor.

You just like to argue don't you? :)
 
H

hexeliebe

Guest
Sure, I have nothing better to do than argue.

Have fun.
 

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