Q: Is it against the law to say this to someone? "According to your back ground report, you are quite a swindler.
I suggest you pay your bill before your employer gets a copy"
A:
It's probably not a violation of criminal law. What's unknown to me is whether the report in question has any privacy restrictions where it's a crime to share it without your consent.
The problem is that the First Amendment makes it extremely difficult to make speech a crime. Maybe it could be considered extortion, especially if they were going to be making up stuff in a report, especially if you don't really owe money....... but maybe that's also a stretch.
You may or may not have a lawsuit. For example, if the background report does not show anything of the sort, and this was said to you publicly which damaged your reputation, you might have a suit for defamation. I would start seeing lawyers who practice civil law, instead of criminal law. Truth is always a defense to any defamation suit, though.
Maybe you have a lawsuit in some other fashion. Consult in person with a lawyer. If you legitimately owe the person money though, and you can pay it, pay them.
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