AFC Interiors v. DiCello

544 N.E.2d 869, 46 Ohio St. 3d 1, 9 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1181, 1989 Ohio LEXIS 248
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 4, 1989
DocketNo. 88-1541
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 544 N.E.2d 869 (AFC Interiors v. DiCello) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AFC Interiors v. DiCello, 544 N.E.2d 869, 46 Ohio St. 3d 1, 9 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1181, 1989 Ohio LEXIS 248 (Ohio 1989).

Opinions

Sweeney, J.

The dispositive question presented in this cause is whether an accord and satisfaction has taken place with regard to the debt owed by DiCello to AFC. The appellee, DiCello, contends that an accord and satisfaction has taken place under the instant facts. The appellant, AFC, argues however that R.C. 1301.13, which embodies Section 1-207 of the Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”), should supersede the doctrine of accord and satisfaction in the “full payment” or “conditional check” situation [3]*3where the payee reserves his or her rights to pursue the balance of the debt alleged to be owed.

Accord and satisfaction is a common-law doctrine where there is a contract between a creditor and debtor for settlement of a claim by some performance other than that which is due. See Grosse & Goggin, Accord and Satisfaction and the 1-207 Dilemma (1984), 89 Comm. L.J. 537. Satisfaction takes place when the creditor accepts the accord. Id.; see, also, State, ex rel. Shady Acres Nursing Home, Inc., v. Rhodes (1983), 7 Ohio St. 3d 7, 7 OBR 318, 455 N.E. 2d 489.

In the cause sub judice, DiCello tendered a check for an amount apparently. less than what AFC expected. The check carried the notation that it constituted payment in full for any and all claims that AFC may have against DiCello. AFC crossed out the notation and inserted the words “Payment on Account” and further negotiated the check. Under Ohio law, it has been held that in such a situation the creditor had “* * * but one alternative; he must accept the amount tendered upon the terms of the condition, unless the condition be waived, or he must reject it entirely, or if he has received the amount by check in a letter, he must return it.” Seeds Grain & Hay Co. v. Conger (1910), 83 Ohio St. 169, 93 N.E. 892, paragraph one of the syllabus. See, also, Inger Interiors v. Peralta (1986), 30 Ohio App. 3d 94, 30 OBR 193, 506 N.E. 2d 1199. Thus, the precise question before this court is whether the special endorsement of the check by AFC with knowledge of a dispute as to the amount due, and with knowledge of the conditional statement on the check, constituted an acceptance of the conditional check, i.e., an accord and satisfaction. In light of the language of R.C. 1301.13, we do not believe that the special endorsement by AFC reserving its rights and subsequent negotiation of the check should continue to be recognized as an accord and satisfaction. Therefore, we reverse the decision of the court of appeals below and remand the cause for further proceedings.

R.C. 1301.13 (UCC 1-207) provides:

“A party who with explicit reservation of rights performs or promises performance or assents to performance in a manner demanded or offered by the other party does not thereby prejudice the rights reserved. Such words as ‘without prejudice,’ ‘under protest,’ or the like are sufficient.”

The Official Comment to this section provides in part:

“1. This section provides machinery for the continuation of performance along the lines contemplated by the contract despite a pending dispute, by adopting the mercantile device of going ahead with delivery, acceptance, or payment ‘without prejudice,’ ‘under protest,’ ‘under reserve,’ ‘with reservation of all our rights,’ and the like. All of these phrases completely reserve all rights within the meaning of this section. The section therefore contemplates that limited as well as general reservations and acceptance by a party may be made ‘subject to satisfaction of our purchaser,’ ‘subject to acceptance by our customers,’ or the like.” (Emphasis added.)

The issue of whether UCC 1-207 should apply to supersede the doctrine of accord and satisfaction has been the subject of much scholarly debate. Courts in different jurisdictions are split with regard to the effect of UCC 1-207 in this context. See, e.g., White & Summers, Uniform Commercial Code (3 Ed. 1988) 689-692, Section 13-24; Note, Contracts — Section 1-207 of the Uniform Commercial Code Not Intended to Apply to Doctrine of Accord & Satisfaction (1980), 15 Land & [4]*4Water Review 737-748; and Hawk-land, The Effect of UCC Section 1-207 on the Doctrine of Accord and Satisfaction by Conditional Check (1969), 74 Comm. L.J. 329.

We are of the opinion, however, that the drafters of the UCC, and Ohio’s General Assembly, promulgated UCC 1-207 in response to a perceived injustice to creditors that occurs where a creditor, under protest, deposits a check marked “paid in full” or the like, and later discovers that an accord and satisfaction has taken place which extinguished the right to demand further payment on the debt.

While this court has not applied R.C. 1301.13 (UCC 1-207) in factual situations similar to the case at bar, it appears that a discernible trend has developed whereby UCC 1-207 is used to supersede the common-law doctrine of accord and satisfaction in “full payment” or “conditional check” situations. Subsequent to the addption of the UCC, at least two other jurisdictions dealt with the subject, albeit in dicta. See Hanna v. Perkins (N.Y. Cty. Ct. 1965), 2 UCC Rep. Serv. 1044; Baillie Lumber Co. v. Kincaid Carolina Corp. (1969), 4 N.C. App. 342, 167 S.E. 2d 85. In Baillie, supra, the court stated that its version of UCC 1-207 would prevent an accord and satisfaction where a conditional check was endorsed “With reservation of all our rights.” Id. at 353, 167 S.E. 2d at 93. In Hanna, supra, the court did not rely on UCC 1-207 because it found no accord and satisfaction based on the fact that there was a triable issue therein. However, the court cited UCC 1-207 and opined that “[i]f it were not that this court finds that triable issues of fact are present, this court would deny the motion by holding this particular section of the code would seem to favor plaintiff’s overriding indorsement of ‘Deposited under protest’ as a reservation of his right to collect payment of [the] balance.” Id. at 1046.

As the debate concerning the scope of UCC 1-207 grew, courts around the country proceeded to make decisions concerning its application. In Scholl v. Tallman (S.D. 1976), 247 N.W. 2d 490, the South Dakota Supreme Court faced a factual situation similar to the instant cause and held that UCC 1-207 applied to the “conditional check” situation. Therein, the creditor deposited, under protest, a check marked “Settlement in Full * * *” from a debtor by scratching out the debtor’s full-settlement notation and writing above his own endorsement, “Restriction of payment in full refused. $1,826.65 remains due and payable.” The court stated that the creditor effected “an explicit reservation of rights under * *' * [1-207]” and thereby did not jeopardize his rights to the balance he maintained was due. Id. at 492.

More recently, in Horn Waterproofing Corp. v. Bushwick Iron & Steel Co., Inc. (1985), 66 N.Y. 2d 321, 497 N.Y. Supp. 2d 310, 488 N.E. 2d 56, the debtor sent the creditor a check for less than the amount owed with a “full payment” notation. The creditor endorsed the check and added the notation “Under Protest,” and brought an action to recover the balance alleged to be due. The court applied the UCC and held that a creditor may preserve his right to the balance of a disputed claim by explicit reservation in his endorsement of the check tendered by the debtor as full payment under UCC 1-207. See Majestic Bldg. Material Corp. v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

ABL, Inc. v. C.T.W. Dev. Corp.
2017 Ohio 9071 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2017)
Osborne v. McCalla, 2006ca00253 (7-30-2007)
2007 Ohio 3887 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2007)
Mooney v. Finnerty, Unpublished Decision (12-29-2006)
2006 Ohio 6981 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2006)
Horen v. Homes, Unpublished Decision (4-30-2004)
2004 Ohio 2218 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)
Ricker v. John Deere Insurance
729 N.E.2d 1202 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1998)
State Ex Rel. Hadsell v. Springfield Township
634 N.E.2d 1035 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1993)
Allen v. R.G. Industrial Supply
611 N.E.2d 794 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1993)
Allen v. R.G. Indus. Supply
1993 Ohio 43 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1993)
Frangiosa v. Kapoukranidis
627 A.2d 351 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 1993)
Burke Co. v. Hilton Development Co.
802 F. Supp. 434 (N.D. Florida, 1992)
S. Rosenthal & Co., Inc. v. Hantscho, Inc.
961 F.2d 1579 (Sixth Circuit, 1992)
Robinson v. Garcia
804 S.W.2d 238 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Polen v. Prines
591 N.E.2d 731 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
544 N.E.2d 869, 46 Ohio St. 3d 1, 9 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 1181, 1989 Ohio LEXIS 248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/afc-interiors-v-dicello-ohio-1989.