If you've been paying any attention at all to the real estate social media/networking space since last Friday, you are no doubt aware of the lawsuit filed by The Lones Group against Daniel Rothamel. I won't rehash all the details in this article - there are plenty of places to get more info on that. Here is the actual legal complaint - that's a good place to start if you are interested in the details. The article I published on this subject, The Lones Group v. Rothamel: A case study in … [Read more...]
The Lones Group v. Rothamel: A case study in destroying your on-line reputation
The Lones Group Oh wait. For the sue-happy out there, let's start with some disclosures: I am not an attorney, in any way, shape or form. I consider Daniel Rothamel and his family (also parties to the lawsuit I'm about to discuss) personal friends. And until today, I had never heard of The Lones Group. I have no idea if they are good at what they do, nor do I really care - that's not the point. Finally, what follows is simply my personal opinion, which I freely admit is biased and slanted due … [Read more...]
Horizon Realty: The Aftermath. How Social Media can Crush a Reputation
If you were paying any attention to “social media” yesterday, then you heard about a real estate property management company in Chicago by the name of Horizon Realty Group. Yesterday morning I wrote an article about Horizon filing a $50,000 libel suit against Amanda Bonnen, a Twitter user with 20 followers that sent out a Tweet in May. The end of that piece said, “Just watch. The carnage is going to be ugly.” And ugly it was. A company spokesman saying, “We're a sue first, ask questions … [Read more...]
Chicago’s Horizon Realty Group Sues Former Tenant Over a Twitter Post
From deep in the “how to royally screw up your reputation via social media” files comes this gem. The Chicago Sun-Times reported yesterday that Horizon Group Management LLC, an apartment leasing and management company, has filed a libel suit against former tenant Amanda Bonnen. Apparently Ms. Bonnen sent out a Tweet on May 12 that read in part: Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay. Horizon Realty Group didn't like that, and has filed … [Read more...]