eAppraiseIT v. Crowley [1]

Crowley runs www.mortgagefraudwatchlist.org, a part-free, part-subscription database of mortgage fraud reports and information. She also is a moderator of AppraisersForum.com, a message board for mortgage appraisers. Crowley wrote posts on both sites criticizing eAppraiseIT, a mortgage appraisal management company. Her posts allegedly accused eAppraiseIT of demanding that appraisers engage in “unethical” activities and reported that she had received information showing that eAppraiseIT tampers with electronic appraisal documents. Her posts also allegedly urged appraisers not to send any documents to the company, suggested that eAppraiseIT pressures individual appraisers to manipulate appraisal values, and indicated that evidence of eAppraiseIT's inappropriate actions had been delivered to law enforcement and regulatory bodies.

EAppraiseIT sued Crowley over these comments in Florida state court, alleging defamation and tortuous interference with business relations. The company filed a motion to enjoin Crowley from discussing eAppraiseIT on her Web sites for the duration of the lawsuit, and the court granted EAppraiseIT an emergency hearing to consider the motion. The court denied the motion at the closing of the hearing, citing Florida appellate case law stating that courts may not enjoin "an actual or threatened defamation." The court earlier (page 10) indicated that the prior restraint doctrine under the First Amendment provided a strong argument against the requested injunction as well.

Update:

2/6/2008 - eAppraiseIT voluntarily dismissed the action. Marc Randazza has an excellent post [2] with details.