Posted by John E. Marre on January 18, 1999 at 12:18:37:
In Reply to: Re: Reference Check of Landlords posted by Nick on January 18, 1999 at 09:57:53:
: One element of defamation is that the person claiming to have been slandered must have suffered damages; i.e., his reputation was damaged. Given the low esteem in which New Yorkers hold residential landlords, I wonder if any of them would be entitled to damages no matter what was said about them. Aren't their reputations so low that they can't sink any further? I mean, how many NYC juries would award a residential landlord damages because a tenant said something derogatory about them?
Curiosity: Has anyone read the article "Rent To Die For? Downtown Landlord Admits Murder Plot", written by J.A. Lobbia, Village Voice, January 19,1999, page 23?
It begins (quote)
Being a tenant in New York City can almost be murder.
That's what two Lower East Eide residents learned last week when their landlord...admitted in criminal court that he hired a hit man to kill them in hopes of getting higher rents.
(end quote)
Addendum: An attorney, representing a landlord, was recently overheard in a NYC court hallway addressing a tenant with the assurance:
"Nobody's going to die as an result of this."
So, it would appear that shelter in the City of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse has all boiled down to this.
Slandering a landlord? Peanuts, in comparrison to death threats. Would we agree?
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