AFC Interiors v. DiCello
Supreme Court of Ohio
N.E.2d 869 (1989)
DiCello (defendant) never paid AFC (plaintiff) for decorating services, and AFC won an arbitration award of $15,000. While arbitration was pending, DiCello sent AFC a check marked on the back "[p]ayment in full for any and all claims," but AFC crossed that out, wrote "Payment on Account" instead, and cashed the check. DiCello then moved for summary judgment, arguing that cashing the check under the common-law doctrine of accord and satisfaction extinguished the rest of the debt; the trial court and the court of appeals agreed.
Whether a creditor who receives a check as partial payment may preserve her right to seek the remaining balance by endorsing the check to indicate she does not accept it as full payment.