Freedom of speech

sparky130a

GGBoom wrote: »

Thanks for the responses

Numerous issues but one of our main problems is that they let someone into our property without telling us, were advised of a leak to our toilet and neither informed us or fixed the issue. It was only when a contractor told us several weeks later that we found out.

The banner just says Do Not Buy, Ask Us Why so I'm not sure they have any grounds unless there is a covenant as mentioned. I will have to check on this with my solicitor

You went to all this trouble over a leak?

And why does anyone else have a key to your property?

kinger101

^^^
Mountain and mole hill did spring to mind.

sparky130a

kinger101 wrote: »

^^^
Mountain and mole hill did spring to mind.

Just a bit!

Here in Soton i'd ignore said banner. It's hardly a constructive way to go about getting your will.

steampowered

kinger101 wrote: »

Technically, the truth can be libel. In England, you don't just need to be true, but demonstrably so.

Truth is an absolute defence to libel or slander (both are sub-categories of defamation).

I refer you to section 2 of the Defamation Act 2013 which reads as follows:

"It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that the imputation conveyed by the statement complained of is substantially true."

Miss_Samantha

steampowered wrote: »

Truth is an absolute defence to libel or slander (both are sub-categories of defamation).

I refer you to section 2 of the Defamation Act 2013 which reads as follows:

"It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that the imputation conveyed by the statement complained of is substantially true."

Isn't that exactly what he wrote?

kinger101

steampowered wrote: »

Truth is an absolute defence to libel or slander (both are sub-categories of defamation).

I refer you to section 2 of the Defamation Act 2013 which reads as follows:

"It is a defence to an action for defamation for the defendant to show that the imputation conveyed by the statement complained of is substantially true."

You've just proved my point. The defendant has to show their statement is substantially true. I wasn't speaking of OP's banner in particular, just the incorrect statement that a true statement can never be libel.

You might not think it's an important distinction, but English law differs from many other jurisdictions, where the complainant has to demonstrate statements made against them are not true. Many people try to pursue libel cases in English courts for this reason.

I'm glad you've now figured out that libel and slander are both defamation. Earlier you referred to "Libel and defamation".

anotheruser

kinger101 wrote: »

In any event, it's likely a covenant can be enforced to make you take down any sign.

I wonder if you can then take action against the company if you find they don't take legal action against anyone else who may have broken a covenant.

For example, many don't allow dishes to be put up on the house, yet everyone does as soon as the developers have moved on. Nobody gets in trouble for it, and nobody cares. But surely the developers can't pick and choose which covenants they enforce?

Arleen

anotheruser wrote: »

I wonder if you can then take action against the company if you find they don't take legal action against anyone else who may have broken a covenant.

For example, many don't allow dishes to be put up on the house, yet everyone does as soon as the developers have moved on. Nobody gets in trouble for it, and nobody cares. But surely the developers can't pick and choose which covenants they enforce?

Why not? It's up to them to enforce the deal, no one else, and if they don't want to - they don't have to.

sparky130a

All talk of defamation etc aside it all sounds rather ridiculous to me....

patman99

!!!!!!, the OP erected a banner because they found out that at some stage prior to them moving in, a leak was discovered and fixed in the toilet.

Does the OP not know that BEFORE you move into a new build, you go in and carry-out a full inspection of EVERYTHING and list any defects on a snagging list for the builders?.

When I moved into a newbuild, I created a snagging list from hell and the builders came and fixed everything without question.

I used to work (until 2 weeks back) on a newbuild site and every house was snagged by the site management all the way through the build proccess. However, not all sites are as thorough.