Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

If the harm involved defamation (slander or libel) of a particular person, the damages recoverable are probably best understood by a non-lawyer by reviewing Civil Code sections 44 through 48a. While 48a deals with libel in a newspaper and slander by radio broadcast, some of the principles discussed would bear upon damages for defamation in general.

There is also a legal cause of action for "slander of title," where the thing impugned is the quality of someone's title in real estate. An example would be causing a sale of land to fail to close by falsely claiming to have a first right of refusal or an option to buy the land. This entitles the injured party to recover damages for actual harm done and proven, and sometimes, attorney fees.

The whole subject of damages for slander and libel is pretty technical, and in general a defamed person can only recover proven monetary harm, but there are some broad exceptions where harm is assumed as a matter of law and proof of actual monetary losses is not necessary.

"Penalty" is whatever your legally provable financial damage is, if you win a lawsuit. Proof of defamation [knowingly false statements that cause financial or reputational harm] is a high hurdle, but with strong evidence might succeed. If serious about pursuing this, if you have such strong evidence and damage, feel free to contact me.