---
title: "Satisfying Commercial Debt: Final Payment"
description: Final word on final payment
image: https://www.gallatin-law.com/hubfs/Canva%20images/Final%20Payment.png
---
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01/12/2022
# Satisfying Commercial Debt: Final Payment
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Ever write "paid in full" or "final payment" on a check when the amount is less than the total claimed? If so, you probably had an idea in the back of your mind that, if the check is cashed, then the matter is resolved. Well, a legal principle exists to support your hunch: accord and satisfaction.
Accord and satisfaction occurs when a creditor accepts some specified performance in lieu of a debt. See *Minn. Stat. § 336.3-**311* (2020) (providing for “[a]ccord and satisfaction by use of instrument”). The concept has two somewhat obvious elements—the accord and the
satisfaction. First, “[a]n accord is a contract in which a debtor offers a sum of money, or some other stated performance, in exchange for which a creditor promises to accept the performance in lieu of the original debt.” *Webb Bus. Promotions, Inc. v. Am. Elecs. & Ent. Corp.*, 617 N.W.2d 67, 72 (Minn. 2000). Second, “[t]he satisfaction is the performance of
the accord, generally the acceptance of money, which operates to discharge the debtor’s duty as agreed to in the accord.” *Id*.
A prominent fact to keep in mind is you must act in good faith. That is, you need to have a reason for paying less than the full amount claimed due and owing.
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## [Dan Gallatin](https://www.gallatin-law.com/blog/author/dan-gallatin)
Dan is a lifelong resident of Minnesota. Born in St. Paul, Dan spent many of his formative years growing up there before moving to White Bear Lake. After graduating from White Bear Lake, Dan spent four glorious years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a degree in two majors. Dan worked as a Senior Investigator at the Minnesota Department of Commerce for several years after graduating from college. During his final years Dan attended William Mitchell College of Law while still working full-time. During this exhausting 3 ½ year period Dan honed his skills in becoming an efficient, to-the-point legal practitioner. While at Madison Dan met his wife, Tonya, and together they moved to Minnesota to plant their roots. Dan and Tonya have two amazing, unique children and reside in Hugo.
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