A Chicago landlord has blown the whistle on a former tenant’s tweet.

Horizon Group Management, LLC, filed a lawsuit claiming that a tweet caused at least $50,000 in damages to the company’s reputation.

“Tweets” are posts of up to 140 characters and are displayed on the Twitter website. The tweet involved in the lawsuit was posted on a public Twitter site, which has since been taken down.

The tenant  lived at 4242 N. Sheridan Rd. in Chicago, a building leased and managed by Horizon. The suit claims that on May 12, 2009, the defendant made a “false and defamatory” tweet that stated, “Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay.” The lawsuit claims the “statement is liable [sic] per se.”

Since filing the lawsuit, Horizon issued a press release stating it found the tweet as part of its due diligence in responding to a lawsuit by the defendant. 

Balough Law Offices, LLC, as one of the defendant's attorneys, filed a motion to dismiss along with a memorandum of law in support of the motion.

The case is pending in Cook County, Il., Law Division.

Horizon Group Management, LLC v. Amanda Bonnen, Cook County No. 2009 L 8675.