$890,000 Defamation Judgment Against Condominium Association for Falsely Claiming Owner was Sex Offender

December 13, 2013

A South Carolina jury awarded an owner in a condominium complex $550,000 in actual damages and $340,000 in punitive damages against the board of a condominium association and the association. The association and board members apparently handed out a flyer to owners identifying a sex offender with the same name as an owner in the complex. While the person on the flyer was not the owner in the project, the association and board members continue to say it was even after other owners challenged the claim. One of the board members also apparently called the owner’s bank and told a loan officer that the owner was a sex offender. The board was apparently upset that the owner had not paid assessments on time.