A person died in my building a tenant said i killed this…

So someone died in the building and another tenant is going around saying you killed them.

In order for there to be a civil claim for defamation, in the form of slander, there must be a number of things.

a) a false statement made, where the person making the statement knows it to be false

b) damage to the individual's reputation that is actually measurable, resulting in identifiable losses in order for damages to be awarded.

Clearly there are false statements and presumably the person making the statements knows them to be false. So that is not an issue.

It's the second part that will dictate whether you have a claim that you can sue for.

People lie about other people all the time. People spread rumours and tell stories regularly, but defamation claims are seldom pursued because the vast majority of these lies have no real impact, aside from being annoying and causing minor inconveniences.

There must be a clearly definable loss incurred as a direct result of the defamation in order for there to be a successful action in the courts. Take for example, a person who starts spreading a rumour about a local restaurant, say they claim that there was a mouse in their soup. If as a result of the lie, the restaurant suddenly had a drastic reduction in business, started getting public posts on their social networking relating to the lies and their business failed as a result of the defamation, then this is a case where there would be identifiable losses to support a civil claim.

If in your case, you had a loss of business, had to move due to threats or property damage as a result of the lies, lost time from work due to stress, (that would have to be proven by medical records) or had some other verifiable loss as a result of this tenant making these statements, then you may have cause to commence an action in court.

But if at the end of the day, this tenant has mental health concerns or is simply an idiot and aside from the comments being a nuisance, nobody believes it and there's no actual loss to you, then there is no grounds to pursue it civilly.

However, this doesn't mean that you have no recourse. So all is not lost.

If what this individual is doing, by spreading rumours like this, making comments of this nature, is very upsetting and interferes with your daily life, you would be justified in reporting this to the police and seeking to have the individual charged criminally with criminal harassment or with mischief for interfering with your ability to live in peace and enjoy your residence, free from harassment.

Please let me know if you require any clarification or have other questions.

Also, please take a moment to leave me a positive rating.

Jim

Hi, I see that you were back in and viewed my response however I see no reply from you. Please advise me if you are satisfied with the information that you have received or if you require something further. If you have what you need, then we can close the question.

Also, if you would take a moment to leave me a positive rating, it would be greatly appreciated as this helps me to build my reputation here as an Expert user on the site.

Thanks and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Jim

Please give me a quick response to let me know if you are satisfied with the information I've provided or if you require anything further. I'd like to know if we can close the question if you don't require anything else.

Regards

Jim