Anonymous Rants Damage Condo Corporations

Social media and e-mail are a broader venue for sharing unsubstantiated accusations, which can damage a condo corporation's reputation. One individual, posing as "Ian Fleming" and using an anonymous Yahoo! e-mail address, accused specific directors of receiving "kickbacks" and giving free reign to contractors at the expense of owners. The courts have ruled this is unacceptable. The board sought a court order requiring Yahoo! to turn over information to identify "Ian Fleming". The judge agreed that an individual publishing defamatory statements to a large group of recipients is not entitled to an expectation of privacy.

A woman posting on Facebook insinuated a neighbour was a pedophile and was found to have encouraged mass dissemination of false information. Condo residents should avoid using social media and e-mail to make accusations against individuals.