• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, January 16, 2018

A federal judge has thrown out a couple's lawsuit over an online critique of their apartment in Paris, which they rented to vacationers.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan in Manhattan said in an order issued Tuesday that the couple, Claude and Violaine Galland, failed to comply with court orders aimed at expediting the long-running legal fight.

"The record in this case -- spanning over three years for what is essentially a single contract claim -- demonstrates a long history of dilatory practices," Sullivan wrote. He added that no sanction short of dismissal would be effective. The Gallands, who resided in New York when the case was filed, are now in Switzerland, according to court papers.

Unless the Gallands appeal, the dismissal will end a dispute that dates to 2013, when the Gallands rented out their Paris apartment to two vacationing couples who subsequently posted some critical comments on the vacation rental site VRBO.com.

One of the couples, Stephen and Terri Bowden of Alabama, allegedly wrote that the apartment was “small and noisy,” but “attractive enough” and close to the Metro and Notre Dame Cathedral.

The other pair, James and Judith Johnston of Oregon, allegedly wrote that they had “an awful experience” at the apartment. “Expect a 2 story climb of narrow stairs, sloping floor, poor lighting, exposed utilities, broken and patched plaster,” they allegedly wrote. “The reviews are way too wordy and sound like the owner.”

The Gallands sued both couples for libel and breach of contract, alleging that the rental agreements contained a clause prohibiting tenants from complaining in online reviews. The Gallands referred to that ban as a "house rule," writing that it must be followed even in the event that “the four-horses-of-the-acopalyspe emerged from doom.”

In 2015, Sullivan dismissed the libel allegations, but allowed the Gallands to pursue their breach of contract claims. The Bowdens subsequently settled the lawsuit, according to court papers.

Last summer, the advocacy group Public Citizen entered the case on behalf of the Johnstons. That organization said it was prepared to argue that the Gallands' ban on negative reviews was void under the Consumer Review Fairness Act -- a 2016 law that invalidates standardized contractual provisions that restrict people's ability to post reviews. Public Citizen also noted that a New York state judge ruled in 2003 that New York's consumer protection law prohibits clauses that ban bad reviews.