Yes, What You Write on the Web Can Hurt You

It sounds like something on a talk show or in a Ripley's Believe it or Not article. However, the case of Kent Haluska and Marina Solo has a lesson that all real estate professionals can learn from.

Recently, Kent Haluska, a Realtor from Wisconsin, was convicted of criminal defamation and sentenced to 18 months probation, a 1 year ban on practicing as a Realtor and ordered to pay a $1838 fine.

Authorities have alleged that Haluska had targeted another Realtor, Marina Solo, with comments on ActiveRain.com such as "Russians don't shave their legs or armpits. Therefore, M.S. is very hairy."

While obviously a laugh-a-minute for Mr. Haluska, Ms. Solo was not as impressed with his wit. Neither was the law, as police managed to track Haluska via his IP address and arrested him in his home on May 20, 2008.

Haluska was also accused of using the identities of other agents to post his comments about Ms. Solo and sending letters to her clients, claiming that by employing her as their Realtor, they were funding Russian terrorism.

Aside from the fact that this illustrates that Haluska has some issues that definitely need to be addressed ASAP, this also makes a powerful statement about what we Realtors blog about and how we treat others.

The Internet, while it physically separates people from each other when they are engaged in communication, does not separate one from the law. Threats and insults on the Internet are starting to carry as much weight as those that are hand written or spray painted or shouted across a crowded room.

What Haluska was accused of doing is not something that most Realtors are going to have the time and inclination to do. However, we can all take note of how we address those people whom we personally dislike or professionally disagree with. It takes only a moment to reread one's post and only a few minutes to walk away from it and come back to peruse it, looking for things that not only expose one to ridicule, can also expose one to legal action.

The Internet gives many people a false sense of security. However, unless one is an Internet whiz and has the power to leap firewalls in a single bound, there always is a trail that is left. Make sure that it's a trail that you want to have leading back to your keyboard.

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