I don't know if this will solve your problem, but a simple approach is to use the Visibility characteristic of a couple of report elements.
For the objects in your data region, set the Visibility according to your data validation. Also create a textbox that gripes at the offender and set its Visibility as the opposite of the visibility of your table or matrix.
On Tablix Properties, Visibility, set the value of Hidden as:
=Iif(Parameters!EndDate.Value > Parameters!StartDate.Value, False, True)
Then for your validation textbox Visibility, set the value of Hidden as:
=Iif(Parameters!EndDate.Value > Parameters!StartDate.Value, True, False)