Landlord slander, libel, defamation, and discrimination due to a disability

[jodyel]

Good afternoon!

I'd like to ask questions regarding libel, slander, invasion of privacy, and discrimination based on a mental disability, if I may.

I am involved in an eviction suit with my landlord and will be filing a countersuit to theirs in small claims court. I've researched all the Property Code statutes regarding my case and have been able to document for the court most all of them that the landlord has violated. The only ones I am not certain about are the four I mentioned above.

A leasing agent here at the apt. complex, representing herself as the on-site manager, told other tenants that they would be evicting me. This information made it's way into a police report (I have a copy of it in my possession.). Is this considered libel, slander, or invasion of privacy since the leasing agent told other tenants information that was none of their business and it made it's way into a public document?

Also, the real on-site manager called me a "lunatic" to a person who was calling her on my behalf seeking information. This person then told me what the manager had called me. I am not a lunatic, but I am on Social Security disability for major depression and the apt. complex knew that when they leased to me. Is the manager guilty of libel, slander, invasion of privacy, or discrimination due to my mental and emotional disability?

Any help or information you can provide is greatly appreciated! I will be filing my countersuit in small claims court early next week, so an answer by then would be terrific!

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,
Jodyel

 

[freebird]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I'll try to address your quesitons:

1) I do not believe you have a case for defamation, invasion of privacy or discrimination. For defamation you need to have a false statement that is communicated to a third person and there is no false statement (although a derogatory remark concerning their impression of you.) You volunteered information regarding yourself and thus this will likely not be an "invasion of privacy' even if there was a law in your jurisdiciton that might deal with the information. I don't see any issue concerning discrimination.

How did your information get onto a police report? Honestly, without more I don't see much to your case. I'd be more concerned with the eviction issues and, when that may be brought up in any case you do have, could serve to make you appear the part of a deadbeat and destroy your credability unfortunately. Best of luck to you.

Originally posted by jodyel
Good afternoon!

I'd like to ask questions regarding libel, slander, invasion of privacy, and discrimination based on a mental disability, if I may.

I am involved in an eviction suit with my landlord and will be filing a countersuit to theirs in small claims court. I've researched all the Property Code statutes regarding my case and have been able to document for the court most all of them that the landlord has violated. The only ones I am not certain about are the four I mentioned above.

A leasing agent here at the apt. complex, representing herself as the on-site manager, told other tenants that they would be evicting me. This information made it's way into a police report (I have a copy of it in my possession.). Is this considered libel, slander, or invasion of privacy since the leasing agent told other tenants information that was none of their business and it made it's way into a public document?

Also, the real on-site manager called me a "lunatic" to a person who was calling her on my behalf seeking information. This person then told me what the manager had called me. I am not a lunatic, but I am on Social Security disability for major depression and the apt. complex knew that when they leased to me. Is the manager guilty of libel, slander, invasion of privacy, or discrimination due to my mental and emotional disability?

Any help or information you can provide is greatly appreciated! I will be filing my countersuit in small claims court early next week, so an answer by then would be terrific!

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,
Jodyel

 

[Shartiger]

Landlord suing me through slander/defamation

In response to your case and my question to a case similar to yours:

My landlord's are trying to do numerous things to damage me, to sue me for unpaid rent for 1 year and then charging me for burglary when I entered the property to collect my property. My lease expired in April 2004 (1 yr lease), not knowing of changes made to that lease, my boy-friend at that time who was also on the lease initialed to consent to increase the rate of taxes to pay for late payments. The landlord added extra charges after my lease expired and I did not consent to any changes. So after 1 year, since April 2004 to April 2005, they are suing me for $16,000 of unpaid rent + damages to property. At time of lawsuit in April 2005, they did an eviction by sending a sheriff with a court order. This notice also had my name included, but I did not sign it. It was only signed by the other person who was on the lease. Can they proceed with the eviciton even if I never had any kind of notice and which I wasn't informed of anything?

I want to know, am I responsible for the unpaid portion being that my lease expired in 2004, then initialed to changes made by the other party on the lease?

Is it a crime to enter the property you rented to collect property that had been left back due to the landlord's agressive behavior to make a tenant leave without giving enough notice to get out? Do the landlord's have the right to approach me one day with no prior notice to leave the property giving only 2 days?

That wasn't the end. Other tenants that were living there and a friend who I listed as a reference told me that the landlord told them that I was helping someone by stealing money from an elderly man. But when I asked the investigator about, he had told me that I was a witness to the case. What business does the landlord's have to interfere and make their own personal judgments when they didn't even know what the fact's were?

Am I entitled to sue them for defamation/slander by misusing of my personal information and saying things to other people that were false?

Will someone please tell me where I went wrong and if I am totally responsible for all of this?