The landlord of an apartment complex in the U.S. tried to force his tenants to become ‘friends’ on Facebook in a bid to increase the complex’s popularity and gain extra exposure – presumably to attract more tenants. Unfortunately the policy seriously backfired.
The Facebook Addendum
Tenants living at the apartment complex were somewhat surprised to find piece of paper stuck to their door entitled ‘Facebook addendum’. The mysterious document purported to be an addendum to their apartment lease. It stated that all tenants were required to ‘friend’ the apartment complex on Facebook within five days or they would be in violation of their tenancy agreement. The document also included a clause giving the landlord permission to post photos of tenants and their guests on his Facebook page.
As you might expect, tenants were outraged. Hundreds of current and former tenants flooded the apartment complex’s Facebook page with negative reviews and angry comments.
Is it Even Legal?
News of the questionable – and probably illegal – policy soon spread like wildfire and random people off the internet joined in. Before long, the City Park Apartment’s Facebook page had 860 one-star reviews and lots of irate comments, which included:
“This gestapo like enforcement of your new Facebook policy will not stand up in court” and “Have a nice day Nazi scum!”
One of the tenants interviewed by a local news outlet summed up the fiasco nicely when he said:
“I don’t want to be forced to be someone’s friend and be threatened to break my lease because of that. It’s outrageous as far as I am concerned.”
