Blackmail / Extortion - when is It Legal

[cooley61]

For the state of Tennessee...

When is it legal to use "personal leverage" to get someone to pay you what they owe you?

There is someone that owes me thousands of dollars and honestly doesn't think they owe me a cent. The money was for rent, money lent, etc. A bunch of accumulated personal debt.

They have a criminal history and I was wondering if threatening to post links to the public records in a location visible to many is considered blackmail?

I noticed a thread on this board that had Georgia's extortion law on it, but there was a paragraph saying that you can defend such threats as "honest indemnification or restitution" for what is owed.

What do you think?

[LawResearcherMissy]

I think you're playing with fire.

"Honest indemnification or restitution" would apply if you're putting up receipts proving what he owes.

Threatening to out his criminal record in an effort to get him to pay up? NOT HONEST.