Legal Definitions - business compulsion

Business compulsion is a type of economic duress that involves using unlawful coercion to force someone to perform an action by threatening financial harm when they cannot exercise free will. This can include taking advantage of someone's weak financial position or unduly influencing them.

For example, a shipbuilder may extract a promise of extra payment from a ship purchaser as a condition of delivering the ship. If the shipbuilder threatens financial harm to the purchaser if they do not agree to the extra payment, this would be considered business compulsion.

Another example of business compulsion could be a landlord threatening to evict a tenant if they do not agree to pay a higher rent, even though the tenant cannot afford it.

These examples illustrate how business compulsion involves using unlawful coercion to force someone to perform an action that they would not otherwise agree to. It takes advantage of the person's lack of will or capacity to resist the threat of financial harm.