Guitarmonster
Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ
Ok, to start off I had this boyfriend I was with for the last three years. He was in college so I let him live with me for free. He has not contributed towards anything. The only thing he did was put the electric bill in his name since I owed them a back balance. Recently he graduated and then got a job, as soon as he was hired he moved out. Then I lost my job and things got kind of hard financially. The electric bill ended up getting up to $1200. At one point after he moved out he told me that he was going to talk to NJ welfare to see if they can pay it under their emergency assistance program. They gave him the runaround for a while. While this was going on he said that if they wouldn't pay it that he would, since he is making close to $1000 per week and really doesn't have many bills. All of a sudden he dumped me, and then he told me that he was not going to pay the electric and that I had no choice but to either pay half of it almost immediately, or he would have it shut off. I talked to my Dad and he told me to not pay it, he said if I pay it then he was under no obligation to keep the electric on, and basically I would end up losing money. He told me to get the electric balance under my name straightened out and transfer it so I could have control. So that's what I did, he was removed from the lease since he voluntarily abandoned the apartment (left back in the beginning of september). The electric is now in my name with a $0 balance, and his account is still at $1200. He called me and told me that something bad is going to happen to me if I don't pay it, he wouldn't say specifically. I asked him "are you threatening me?" and he said no. I then went into the other room and put the phone on speaker, and I instructed my friend to listen to the conversation. While listening he said "I have a card that I can play that you don't know about, and you have no idea how serious it is. You can either pay for half of the bill or the law is going to come after you." At that point I actually asked him to clarify what he was saying so this is how it went
Me: So I just want to get this straight, you are saying that either I pay you, or something bad is going to happen to me
Him: Yes
Me: Ok, so basically you are trying to blackmail me
Him: This is not blackmail
Me: well that's what is sounds like to me, either pay you or suffer the consequences
I read the following law:
18 U.S.C. S 1951(b)(2)
I'm not sure if this is classified and extortion or blackmail. What should I do next, should I call the police and file a complaint, I can't afford a lawyer.
Ok, to start off I had this boyfriend I was with for the last three years. He was in college so I let him live with me for free. He has not contributed towards anything. The only thing he did was put the electric bill in his name since I owed them a back balance. Recently he graduated and then got a job, as soon as he was hired he moved out. Then I lost my job and things got kind of hard financially. The electric bill ended up getting up to $1200. At one point after he moved out he told me that he was going to talk to NJ welfare to see if they can pay it under their emergency assistance program. They gave him the runaround for a while. While this was going on he said that if they wouldn't pay it that he would, since he is making close to $1000 per week and really doesn't have many bills. All of a sudden he dumped me, and then he told me that he was not going to pay the electric and that I had no choice but to either pay half of it almost immediately, or he would have it shut off. I talked to my Dad and he told me to not pay it, he said if I pay it then he was under no obligation to keep the electric on, and basically I would end up losing money. He told me to get the electric balance under my name straightened out and transfer it so I could have control. So that's what I did, he was removed from the lease since he voluntarily abandoned the apartment (left back in the beginning of september). The electric is now in my name with a $0 balance, and his account is still at $1200. He called me and told me that something bad is going to happen to me if I don't pay it, he wouldn't say specifically. I asked him "are you threatening me?" and he said no. I then went into the other room and put the phone on speaker, and I instructed my friend to listen to the conversation. While listening he said "I have a card that I can play that you don't know about, and you have no idea how serious it is. You can either pay for half of the bill or the law is going to come after you." At that point I actually asked him to clarify what he was saying so this is how it went
Me: So I just want to get this straight, you are saying that either I pay you, or something bad is going to happen to me
Him: Yes
Me: Ok, so basically you are trying to blackmail me
Him: This is not blackmail
Me: well that's what is sounds like to me, either pay you or suffer the consequences
I read the following law:
18 U.S.C. S 1951(b)(2)
I'm not sure if this is classified and extortion or blackmail. What should I do next, should I call the police and file a complaint, I can't afford a lawyer.