Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in North Carolina

I am a creditor that rented my house to someone that refused to pay and I had to have evicted. To get them out quickly, I took them to small claims court and was awarded $5,000 in July 2009. These debtors have attempted filing bankruptcy and failed, they are renting a beautiful house, have to relatively new cars, and just opened a new business suite. I tried to file a writ of exemption; however, the Harnett County blindly accepted all their exemptions and totally messed up the process to the point that the clerk is conducting an internal investigation.

I am tired at this point but refuse to see these debtors get away with this and having a thriving business on top of all else. I have fliers made with the information that is a matter of public record including her arrest for failure to appear to a criminal trial.

My legal question is: if I distribute these facts on cars and mailboxes, am I open to any laws that I am unaware of as long the facts are 100% accurate?


Asked on 3/17/12, 5:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Kirby Law Offices of John M. Kirby

You might want to consult with a lawyer in your area with more specific facts to obtain a more precise response to your inquiry. As a general matter, a person cannot be sued for truthful speech, and thus the dissemination of truthful information about others is not a basis for a lawsuit. (False information, of course, would give rise to an action for defamation.) There might be a law against placing an item inside a mailbox, but placing it outside a mailbox is likely permissible. Placing flyers on vehicles might technically constitute some sort of trespass, but this is of course a common practice. Some stores publish a list of people who have paid with bad checks, and such speech is generally protected. There is even a First Amendment free speech right at issue here.

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Answered on 3/17/12, 6:47 am


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