Can I sue for Harassment and Extortion?

Can I sue someone for repeated harassment and blatant extortion? The situation is as follows: A man asked me for help with his website. The request was for setting up a shopping cart that he could take orders with via the web. He repeatedly emphasized that "the best deals are made on a handshake" and thus we have no contract but had a verbal agreement that I would be paid 10% of gross sales that the site produced. The shopping cart software that I had him purchase was unfortunately too advanced for his current web hosting service and I politely offered to host it on my personal web host for him until he got a new server provider. Ideally I just wanted to be paid for doing some coding and installing the shopping cart. The man stated that if I didn't want a percentage of sales, he would pay me $500 for the work I had done and we would part ways. After a few weeks of getting to know this guy, things seemed more and more shady.
Can I sue for Harassment and Extortion?
This man is definitely trying to extort you.


He is also attempting to bully you into continuing to work for him for free.


Encountering people like this idiot is one of the hazards of being self-employed.





Unfortunately, since you have no written contract, you will not be able to recover any money from him if you sue him. However, if he attempts to sue you, you can counter-sue for malicious prosecution, and filing a frivolous lawsuit.





At this point, I strongly urge you to seek counsel. Most attorneys do not charge for an initial consultation. What the attorney can do is, if this bully attempts to sue you for ANY amount, is write him a letter, saying that you are now represented by the law firm, and all correspondence is to come to the attorney.





You would be surprised at how quickly people like this man back down when faced with an attorney.





Edit:


Additionally, do not take anymore calls from him.


If he continues to harass you about the website, tell him that you will get a restraining order and have him arrested for harrassment. He is, at this point committing a crime by attempting to force you to work for him.


You owe him nothing.
Can I sue for Harassment and Extortion?
Sue their *** off!!
Reply:Puh-lease! This man has NO contract. You offered to do it from kindness. not cause you were forced to do it by a contract.
Reply:You can sit there and laugh in his face. He has no basis of any lawsuit what-so-ever. No money was exchanged between the two of you and no contract was signed. If he didn't hold up his end of the deal, then you don't have to either.


That's what a deal is about, give and take. If not official deal was made, then you have absolutely no worries what so ever.





And besides, you can't sue someone for extortion. That is a charge is pressed upon you by the police or a court of law. Not by some no name chump, which this guy appears to be.





So, basically, you can laugh at him. Tell him to go f%26amp;*k off and not bother you again.
Reply:yeah, you're not under any obligation to this guy and there's nothing he can do to cause you legal trouble. if he contacts you again, my advice would be to get in touch with the police about the harassment/threats. that way if he does attempt to take you to court, your side of the story will already be on record. of course, even if you don't contact the police, he's still completely in the wrong and you have nothing to worry about.
Reply:The guy still has access to the pictures and categories, so he could just download them himself. Since he doesn't want to pay you for the work, I don't see that you would have any obligation to do any work for him. Besides, if this guy doesn't have enough money to pay you, how do you suppose he'd have enough money to hire a lawyer. I think a lawyer would have a good laugh if he walked into their office wanting to sue for extortion over $500 labor that he never paid for and there is no paperwork for. You might want to call Tom Martino, the Troubleshooter. He has a radio show in which callers can get such problems addressed. And, I think you've got more of a case that he owes you money rather than that you owe him labor for nothing. I wonder what would happen if you took this case to small claims court. What's he going to do... lie under oath that there was no arrangement between you? Keep all documents of any kind that you have just in case. I am not a lawyer, so these are just my opinions.
Reply:How is asking for payment for services rendered "extortion" exactly?? Ignore him - he's an idiot. He just wants you to do all the work for free, and now that you're not, he's pissed because he doesn't know how to do it himself. You were too nice in offering to host his site on your personal host without getting paid for the work you had already done - it sounds like this guy wants it all for nothing. Don't respond to any further contact from this idiot.
Reply:Actually, you did have a contract. You agreed to set up his shopping cart, and he agreed to pay you 10%. You later modified (arguably) the contract and changed the 10% to $500. In most instances, and this instance most definitely, a contract does not need to be in writing to be enforceable. The writing just helps with proving that a contract actually existed.





Extortion? No way. If anything, he's the one committing extortion by threatening to go to the police if you don't do further work for him.





If he goes to the police, this is what will happen: The desk sergeant will listen to his story, then the sergeant will calmly walk to the back of the station. There will be a sudden uproar of laughter. Then the sergeant will return and say, "sorry, this is a civil case."





Since you'd be happy cutting your losses and parting ways with this guy, I'd just let this go. The only thing he can do is sue you for breach of contract, and his case is weak. If he sues you, tell the guy to go pound sand, then countersue him for the $500 he agreed to pay you.