Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Tennessee

Re: Legal Tender

Part of your facts seem to be missing. In the USA, as in almost all nations, CASH is KING. That means any creditor would prefer to receive cash over almost all other forms of payment. Does the former landlord have a problem with having no place to store the cash until he can deposit it into a bank?

If you take the ex-landlord to court and establish that you offered to satisfy or pay off the debt with cash, the court will recognize that the debt could have been paid in full and will penalize the landlord for not accepting cash --- unless there was some strange contract term that specifically called for payment through services or some other non-cash means.

Are you offering the former landlord cash for a smaller amount than the total balance due?

This sounds like a strange case. I've never heard of a businessman not accepting cash for payment of a debt. I have heard of business people not wanting to sell an expensive item for cash, because they don't want to risk robbery, and so they insist on payment by check or direct deposit to a bank. However, there is no rational reason for a landlord not to accept our soveign currency.