Delacy Investments, Inc. v. Thurman & Re/Max Real Estate Guide, Inc.
Minnesota Court of Appeals
693 N.W.2d 479 (2005)
Thurman assigned his future real estate commissions to Commission Express (C.E.) (plaintiff) in exchange for advance funding before entering an independent contractor agreement with Re/Max (defendant), which entitled him to commissions only to the extent they exceeded his accrued overhead expenses; when Thurman was later terminated with $11,126.38 in overhead exceeding a $10,000 anticipated commission on a specific sale, Re/Max refused to pay that commission to C.E., which sued as assignee. The trial court granted Re/Max summary judgment, and C.E. appealed.
Whether, under the Uniform Commercial Code, a debtor may assert against an assignee any defenses or claims in recoupment it could have asserted against the assignor.