Potential Landlord Liability in Facebook Stalking Case

A recent ruling by an Ohio appellate court indicates that the landlord of an apartment complex could have liability in a negligence action brought in connection with a Facebook stalking incident.

The facts of this case, as outlined by the Court of Appeals Twelfth Appellate District’s opinion, are particularly disturbing.  The case involves a single mother, Lindsay P., who resided with her young daughter in an Ohio apartment complex.  The mother complained to the management company, Towne Properties Asset Management Co., Ltd., about excessive noise, including fighting and loud music, which emanated from the apartment below.  The apartment below was occupied by both the resident named on the lease as well as her live in boyfriend who was not a party to the lease and whose presence was not contemplated by the lease terms.  The dispute eventually led to the downstairs neighbors’ boyfriend banging on Lindsay P.’s door and engaging in other intimidating behavior.  The intimidating behavior included the neighbor’s boyfriend eventually contacting Lindsay P. through her Facebook account.  He “began the exchange by stating that he knew the two had differences, that he had seen Lindsay upset and crying, and that he knew things were not ‘easy for a single mom.”  He proceeded to make apparently sexual overtures to Lindsay P. and even attached a link to a pornographic website showing a man and woman having sexual relations and who the court said “looked similar” to both Lindsay P. and her neighbor’s boyfriend.  After the matter continued to escalate in this manner and Lindsay P.’s concern and fear continued to grow, she allegedly informed the management company that she would like to leave her current residence and look for another place to live.  The management company told her that “was not an option,” but that instead she could move to a different apartment managed by the company a few blocks away.  While not an ideal alternative, as termination of the lease appeared to be rejected by the management company, Lindsay P. agreed to the move even though it was in a first floor apartment that she expressed concern over “because of safety and accessibility reasons.”  Soon after moving into the new apartment, the neighbor’s boyfriend broke into Lindsay P.’s apartment and proceeded to rape her with her young daughter in a nearby room overhearing the attack.

The record of the case indicates that the management company had been provided with a copy of the contents of the parties Facebook exchange and informed Lindsay P. to contact the local police, which she did.  “It is undisputed that the police did not pursue charges against Haynes (the neighbor’s boyfriend) because of the Facebook exchange, nor did they investigate the matter.” There was some dispute as to whether Lindsay P. had expressly requested that her lease be broken and the court reasoned that such lack of clarity was an issue of credibility that “must be determined by the trier of fact.”  Moreover, while the landlord’s “counsel suggested at oral arguments that the record did not contain evidence that Towne Properties let tenants out of their leases…’the record, however, does appear to contain such testimony.”

In the Lindsay P. v.Towne Properties Asset Management Co., Ltd. opinion the court  states that “it is cognizant that the criminal acts of third parties are very difficult to predict and that a landlord does not generally have a duty to protect its tenants from the criminal acts of third parties.  However, there are issues of fact regarding whether Towne Properties should have reasonably foreseen Haynes’s criminal activity.”

Haynes was apprehended by the police, was tried and convicted of rape and aggravated burglary and was sentenced to nine years in prison.