Opinion ID: 1860245
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Must a creditor, tendered a check marked paid in full, present the check to the bank for payment before it will constitute acceptance of the check for purposes of establishing accord and satisfaction?

Text: We hold that under Lovorn v. Iron Wood Prods. Corp., 362 So.2d 196, 197 (Miss. 1978), the lower court correctly denied the Alexanders the defense of accord and satisfaction. Louis Alexander mailed two checks to the co-op at the end of the month, and in the corner of each check was the statement Paid In Full. The check he mailed in his own behalf was for $816.00, and the check he wrote for his brother Sam was for $979.00; the checks represented the price of the 11 gallons of Pix the Alexanders contend they asked Sykes to purchase for them, not $8,360.00, the price of 88 gallons of Pix the co-op delivered to Sykes and charged to the Alexanders' open accounts. The co-op retained the checks, but did not cash them. To establish accord and satisfaction, four basic conditions must be satisfied: (1) Something of value is offered in full satisfaction of the demand; (2) This act is accompanied by acts or declarations which amount to a condition that if the thing offered is accepted, it is accepted in satisfaction; (3) The party offered the thing of value is bound to understand that if the thing offered is accepted, it is accepted in satisfaction of the total debt; and (4) The party actually does accept the item. Lovorn v. Iron Wood Prods. Corp., 362 So.2d 196, 197 (Miss. 1978), citing Cooper & Rock v. Yazoo & M.V.R.R., 82 Miss. 634, 35 So. 162 (1903). As to the defense of accord and satisfaction, the acceptance of a check without cashing it does not establish the fourth element of the Lovorn test, and therefore the lower court is affirmed in so determining. Lovorn, 362 So.2d at 197 (cashing a check constitutes acceptance for purposes of establishing accord and satisfaction); see also, Sherwin-Williams Co. v. Sarrett, 419 So.2d 1332, 1335 (Miss. 1982) (certification of a check is practically the equivalent of collecting or cashing it, and amounts to acceptance for purposes of accord and satisfaction), citing Kersh v. Manis Wholesale Co., 135 Ga. App. 943, 219 S.E.2d 604 (1975). Accordingly, we reverse and remand as to the granting of summary judgment regarding the apparent authority of Sykes to purchase from the co-op but affirm as to the finding of no accord and satisfaction. AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART, CONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., HAWKINS, P.J., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, PITTMAN, BANKS and McRAE, JJ., concur.