Telling tenants to 'friend' landlord Facebook page in 5 days or lose lease was mistake, lawyer says
When tenants in a Salt Lake City apartment building discovered an unusual lease addendum taped to their doors last week, a number were irked.
It said they had to “friend” the landlord’s Facebook page within 5 days, reports KSL, or be found in breach of the rental agreement with City Park Apartments.
An attached release gave permission for photos of tenants and their guests to be included on the Facebook page.
The addendum also reportedly included an anti-disparagement requirement prohibiting tenants from posting negative comments about the apartment complex on any public forum or page. Undaunted, many responded by flooding its Facebook page with negative comments and, when the Facebook page was apparently shut down, continued the barrage on ApartmentRatings.com and Yelp, according to the BBC News.
But the lease addendum, which also reportedly required tenants to “like” the Facebook page, was a mistake and the landlord never intended to threaten tenants with eviction, legal counsel for the complex told KSL on Tuesday.
“As part of opening its pool and an anticipated pool party, City Park desired to provide some protection to its residents and its owners from usage of photos on its Facebook page from all community events, including the opening pool party,” explained the Law Offices of Kirk A. Cullimore in a written statement.
“The ‘Facebook Addendum’ was provided to them to assist in that protection. That addendum went beyond the request and intent of City Park Apartments, and was not carefully reviewed to ensure that it met with their needs and requests. At no time was any resident in jeopardy of eviction or action from City Park for failure to sign the addendum or ‘friend’ City Park Apartments. City Park has not implemented the addendum nor is it requiring its residents to execute it.”
An earlier KSL story provides additional details.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Apartment owner axes controversial lease provision that allowed $10K fine for social media criticism”
