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Bob has strong evidence that his landlord engages in illegal activity as he allegedly hosts illegal poker sessions in his basement.

On the other hand, the landlord neglects his duties from the lease contract (the washing machine is broken for a long time and there's no hot water in the house).

Would it be blackmailing if Bob said to his landlord: "You're going to fix the hot water next week or I'll be reporting your 'little Las Vegas' to the police!"? Would that be a reason to terminate the lease contract and throw Bob out?

PMF
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2 Answers2

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In Switzerland, Bob doesn't need to go as far as reporting the illegal activity of gambling. He can file a complaint to have the situation remedied, and is also entitled to reduction of rent and/or compensation, which is arguably better than simply reporting the illegal activity. Switzerland also has decent tenant protection laws, so the landlord wouldn't likely find grounds for eviction even if they were threatened, or reported by, Bob for illegal activities.

That said, even if Bob did make such a threat, he's probably "safe". The laws require that someone attempts to make an "unlawful gain" in order for the criminal offence of extortion to occur. Since Bob is legally entitled to live in a habitable environment, he would not be in violation of this law, although certainly the landlord could try to claim that is the case. It would not cross over to extortion unless Bob did something overtly for personal gain ("give me a cut of the winnings or..."), rather than basic tenant rights.

Basically, Bob has no legitimate reason to make that kind of threat, and the landlord has no legal recourse for eviction based on such a threat. From a non-legal perspective, it'd probably be better for Bob to try and find a place to live that doesn't involve such a hypothetically shady landlord. Bob would more likely find himself a victim of an actual extortion threat rather than mere eviction.

lawful-n00b
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Yes, but not in the circumstances described

Blackmail is defined in s249K of the Crimes Act 1900:

(1) A person who makes any unwarranted demand with menaces--

(a) with the intention of obtaining a gain or of causing a loss, or

(b) with the intention of influencing the exercise of a public duty, is guilty of an offence.

: Maximum penalty--Imprisonment for 10 years.

(2) A person is guilty of an offence against this subsection if the person commits an offence against subsection (1) by an accusation, or a threatened accusation, that a person has committed a serious indictable offence.

: Maximum penalty--Imprisonment for 14 years.

In the situation the OP describes:

  1. The demand is not “unwarranted” as the tenant has a contractual entitlement to what they are asking for,
  2. There are no menaces because:
    • Hosting a private poker school is not an indictable offence. In fact, it’s perfectly legal under the Unlawful Gambling Act 1998, so, it does not engage subsection (2).
    • as such, it would not cause a person of “normal stability and courage to act unwillingly”, which is central to the definition of menaces.
Dale M
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