Twitter post gets renter sued by landlord

She only had 15 Twitter followers.

And, according to CBS2 Chicago, Amanda Bonnen, a local resident, wanted those followers to know about her mold.

Well, not her mold exactly, but the mold she claimed had taken up residence in her residence.

So she reportedly tweeted: "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay."

Horizon Realty appears not to think it's OK, as the company has sued Bonnen for publishing false and defamatory information in her tweet. (Her Twitter account is now inactive.)

Here's what mold can do to a closet. Not nice.

(Credit: CC Angela Schmeidel Randall/Twitter)

The suit suggests that Horizon Realty feels terribly hurt and that Bonnen's tweet adversely affected its excellent reputation, an adverse effect that might be mitigated somewhat by compensation of $50,000.

This might be a lesson for residents of Cook County, Ill., to be very careful when it comes to social networking. This is, after all, the county in which the sheriff tried to sue Craigslist.

But one does wonder whether Bonnen brought up the alleged mold to her landlord before tweeting. If Horizon Realty really does uphold its allegedly excellent reputation, surely the company would have done something about it.

And if Bonnen really wanted only her 15 followers to know about her alleged moldy misery, might she not have sent 15 direct messages? Or, at least, kept her Twitter feed private?

There again, how did Horizon Realty hear about her tweet? Was one of Amanda Bonnen's 15 followers a mold mole?

[mrcjacobs]

If she didn't notify them about the mold before tweeting it I hope they win their suit against her.

[aaanandhismini]

This is DUMB AS HELL. The whole idea behind twitter (I think as I am not a user) is to be able to tell the world what is happening to you as it happens. This ends it all if she looses the case.

If there is mold, there is mold. As long as she gets in touch with the agents for the owner to inform them within a reasonable time, all should be well.

***..... $50.000?

[El_Segfaulto]

This is absolutely ridiculous. Since when have we descended into an Orwellian era of thoughtcrime. Is it illegal to complain about something to your friends? Especially if it's true? Hell I complain about work all of the time at the local pub, when is my summons coming in the mail?

[Random_Walk]

Err, if they have to launch a $50k lawsuit just to defend their "excellent reputation" instead of just fixing the problem or asking for an apology, I suspect that their reputation may not be as "excellent" as they let on.

[red_foxx15]

I hope she has documented proof that she reported this problem to them and that the date is long before the post she made. then i hope she sues the company into bankruptcy. to sue for 50k for something that didnt even affect your reputation until you tried to sue for it.

[kc8mtv]

So if we complain about Horizon Realty here on CNET, can CNET or those that post the comments be sued? I think we should all complain and give them the bad press they deserve. What kind of judge would allow this in his court room?

[ivan256]

That's mildew. And it's *not* dangerous to sleep in an apartment with mildew unless you're allergic to it. All it does is smell bad (and even then, only when it's wet). Also, the wall is cut open. Which means that they were probably in the process of fixing it for her anyway.

People who are alarmist about fake safety issues need to be set straight. She made the mistake of libel, and I'm glad her landlord is taking her to task for it.

[celticbrewer]

Are you sure the photo in the article is from the actual story, or just a generic stock photo?

[mknopp]

You need to pay closer attention before you get sued for libel.

That picture is not Amanda Bonnen's. Which might or might not be of the actual apartment in question in this story.

I also find it interesting that you automatically assume that the person is in the wrong. Whether it is mold or mildew if the tenant registered a complaint and the landlord did nothing to correct it. Then she may not be libel, because it is not necessarily false.

[Random_Walk]

...yeah, becuase taking a sledgehammer to a wayward mosquito is always the best way to handle an issue, right?

[d_e_fresh]

It's not libel if someone tells their friends that their landlord doesn't care about them, it's free speech. Twitter is not a news publication for Christ's sake, it is a social networking site! Why don't we just sue everyone for everything!!!

[jbowk]

If you've complained to the property then you clearly you have a valid point. And if so you can counter sue them (because this is America)! And hopefully you didn't deactivate your Facebook. If so then whats the point of sending out tweets. But sometimes virtual world and real world collide and we dont know how to deal with it. I.E. let me complain about my real world in the virtual world and hence we have this situation. I don't know where we are headed.

[JoeNYC]

They're going to have to show quantifiable damages. They're not going to get far if they just cry about their reputation. She only had 15 followers. It's going to be hard to show damages from that.

[this1!]

doesnt Horizon hurt its reputation like 1000 times worse by suing this person??

wow, maybe Amanda is right and this company is just a bunch of idiots...

[Thefley]

"to sue for 50k for something that didnt even affect your reputation until you tried to sue for it."
I agree.

[Tigerbomb1972]

Disappoint with this but she shouldn't have went to twitter talking about. i bet one of her followers was attempting to help her but caused more problems. Hope she addressed the issue before that twitter post. I doubt the reality company will get $50,000, that's a little unreasonable.

The biggest issue i have is people using social tools (i.e Facebook, Myspace, windows messenger, twitter, text to address issues that should be handled face to face.

[4score20]

I'm thinking one of her followers, possibly believing they were trying to help her, may have called up the realty company to complain on her behalf and informed them of her Twitter complaint. The realtor probably freaked thinking she'd sue them and decided to sue her preemptively. Lesson of the story: tell your landlord first, document the damage and give the landlord a reasonable amount of time to correct the problem. Save the public complaints for small claims court. If you've got to complain on Twitter don't name the owners of the building on a public forum.

[rahodeb]

"There again, how did Horizon Realty hear about her tweet?"

Uh - are you serious? Ever heard of Twitter search? They obviously searched for themselves, or are using an app or service that tracks mentions of "horizon realty"

[walk2k]

It's not defamaion if it's true.. She will win this case and counter-sue for big time $$$$. Basically she just won the lottery. Gratz.

[tektaktyks]

sue back,for endangering her life,and if she didnt notife them it doesnt matter,**** them

[Kev_Orng]

If my landlord sued me for all the times I've complained to the twitterverse about mold, faulty wiring, and kids in the dang pool after hours, I'd be broke!

[robertritz88]

I really wish that there were more facts in this story. The important bit is whether the picture she took was real or if it had malicious intent. Did the author attempt to contact the author of the Tweet or the realty company for comment? This is essentially a blog post and really shouldn't be in the news section. Please give the readers some real information.

[betatron]

Published reports quote the landlord as being "sue first and ask questions later kind of an organization."
I'm sure the court will love this. What's that rule 11 thing about again?

[eighteyes]

Truth is the best defense against libel.