How the Dancing Woman Emoji Cost a Couple $AUD3,000 in Court

An Israeli court has just fined a couple for accepting a rental property via emojis and then not following through.

The landlord took the couple to small claims court in Israel after communications between the two parties went dark following what the landlord thought was a deal.

The landlord argued that he took the ad down because he thought that an agreement had been made via a text message. 

The text message in question read: "Good morning 😊 interested in the house‍ 💃🏼 👯 ✌ 🎐 🐿 🍾 just need to discuss the details … When's a good time for you?"

The judge ruled that "[t]hese symbols, which convey to the other side that everything is in order, were misleading."

"The combination of these—the festive icons at the beginning of the negotiations, which created much reliance with the prosecutor, and those smileys at the end of the negotiations, which misled the Plaintiff to think the defendants were still interested in his apartment—support the conclusion that the defendants acted in bad faith in the negotiations."

He continued to say that the "defendants 'dragged' the Plaintiff, 'lulled' him, until he found himself close to the beginning of the lease period without having found a renter."

His ruling meant that the couple now owes the landlord $AUD3,000.

@associatesmind "When reached for comment, the attorney for the couple was reportedly 😞."

— Ben Hutson (@benhutson) May 19, 2017

🏡💃🏻👯‍✌️☄️🐿️🍾 = $2K

just let that sink in 🤔

— ADDY  (@LethalHuxtable) May 20, 2017

So, remember this case the next time you send a seemingly innocent peach or '100' emoji.

Photo: iStock