Mike your post reminded me of an unfortunate incident that happened here in Ohio a few years ago.
A fellow (I'll call him Richard for this example) in the Akron area owned a transmission shop and inadvertently made lots of enemies as a result of bad business practices. He also owned some vacant rental property that we was fixing up.
Well he and his wife went out of town on vacation so someone placed an add in the Beacon telling all they were getting ready to wreck this house and anyone and everyone could help themselves to the contents of the rental. It was stripped in a matter of a few days. Plumbing, electrical, windows, furnace, you get the picture.
The owner tried to sue the Beacon when he got back into town for placing the classified without first verifying exactly who placed it. It didn't work. Guess it doesn't pay to make waves in this world, does it?
I was privy to this story as I installed central air conditioning for Richard in his home and he reluctantly told me the story.
Did I get paid for my services? Well that's another story altogether.