Horizon Realty Learns a Lesson In Social Media Awareness
August 2, 2009
Last week the twitterverse was ablaze with news that one innocent tweet by a disgruntled tenant could be used as grounds for a libel lawsuit by the management company of her previous apartment.
Amanda Bonnen, the defendant, is said to have damaged the management company’s reputation when she tweeted (to all 20 of her followers) her discontent with mold in her rental’s bedroom and claimed the management company, Horizon Realty of Chicago, thought it was okay to live with it.
Horizon Realty, seemingly miffed about the perceived damage to their brand, slapped Amanda Bonnen with a $50,000 libel suit and remarked to the Chicago Sun Times that they are a “Sue first, ask questions later.” kind of company. Nice one!
What went from being a small mold problem with a single tenant has now exploded into a national publicity nightmare for Horizon Realty which later released a press release saying the comment was tongue-in-cheek and not meant to be taken seriously.
So where did Horizon Realty go wrong? Aside from the absolutely idiotic comment that they would rather sue and waste money than to resolve the issue I think people, as a whole, are fed up with corporations and are increasingly viewing them as diabolical entities designed to work against the average Joe or Jane.
For their troubles, Horizon Realty is now one of the most talked about real estate management companies in the country (not in a good way). Read through the comments in the Sun-Times and you’ll even see a couple of people with appointments to see Horizon Realty managed rentals who are now running in the other direction. This story of David vs Goliath has even been picked up by the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle drawing national attention to the case.
In all fairness to Horizon Realty, it’s worth mentioning that they are filing this suit in response to a class action suit filed by Amanda Bonnen against the company but that almost seems besides the point now. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops and to what extent this hinders the company’s ability to gain new renters for their properties in the Chicago area.
Image Credit: striatic
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5 Responses to “Horizon Realty Learns a Lesson In Social Media Awareness”
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“It’ll be interesting to see how this develops and to what extent this hinders the company’s ability to gain new renters for their properties in the Chicago area.”
I wouldn’t consider for a single second doing business with a “sue first” landlord and I’m surely not alone.
I think their only chance at mitigating any future damage would be to fire Jefery Michael, drop the lawsuit and make a full and unreserved appology, not just in the press but also on as many bloga as possible
P.S.
Instead of doing anything even similar to that it’s full steam ahead up shit creek.
Neil — I think the Michael family owns Horizon Realty so they’d have to give their kid the boot. Even so, I don’t think that’d be a bad idea given the circumstances. Maybe stick him in the mail room? lol
Interesting to see how Twitter can affect your life if you choose to open your mouth in the wrong way.
They always said publicity good or bad is good. But for this specific case can’t imagine it being good. Landlord fires off a lawsuit with a click of a pen. You would think they would know that this was going to catch some major press.
All this mess from a tweet? Wow! Horizen Realty, what is the return on your investment just to prove the other is wrong? Hmm… I say go to CCIM school. Also, pickup a bible.