Complex threatens to throw out disobeying tenants

May 31, 2016 17:35 GMT  ·  By

City Park Apartments, an apartment complex from Salt Lake City, Utah, is forcing its tenants to give it a "Like" on Facebook within five days, threatening to otherwise break their lease and make them move out, Utah-based TV station KSL reports.

This outrageous demand was taped to the doors of all tenant doors on Thursday night, May 26, and informed all residents they would have to "like" the complex's Facebook page within five days.

The problem here is that this notice wasn't a simple piece of paper, but a contract addendum, which, if left unsigned, would allow the apartment complex to force users to move out.

Complex also wanted to ban negative reviews

The excessive and bizarre request didn't stop here, though, as the apartment complex also barred tenants from posting negative reviews on its Facebook page.

Furthermore, the contract addendum, if signed, would also grant City Park Apartments a release to post pictures of its tenants and their visitors on its Facebook page without their permission.

The tenants' reaction was epic, and hundreds of them flooded the complex's Facebook page with one-star reviews, over 940 at the time of this article. The page has also been stripped off any branding material in the meantime.

The addendum's legality comes into question

Some of the tenants were adamant in interviews with local media, saying they were willing to move out rather than be subjected to social media surveillance and censorship by their landlord.

The legality of this contract addendum is also under scrutiny from local law firms since it seriously infringes on the tenants' privacy and right to a personal life.

This is not the first time when a residential complex tried to push an addendum to its tenants regarding online activities, as in March 2015, a Florida-based complex attempted to prevent Yelp reviews through a similar contract extension.

The Utah complex's addendum deadline is tomorrow, and we'll have to see if they choose to enforce their wacky social media contract extension.