Also known as: minus soluto · partial payment · less than due
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A status of partial payment under an installment land contract that protects the purchaser to the extent of payments made. The purchaser receives an equitable interest in the land while the prior unrecorded claimant obtains a lien securing the unpaid balance of the purchase price.
Madison Meyers contracted to buy a parcel from a seller and paid forty percent of the price before taking possession. An earlier unrecorded buyer then appeared. The court awarded title to Madison but granted the prior claimant a lien on the land to secure the unpaid balance of the purchase price.
Maria Morales and other royalty owners received suspense royalties from Phillips Petroleum after a rate dispute. They accepted the partial sums under protest while continuing to pursue the full interest owed. The acceptance did not waive their claim to the remaining balance.
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Mina Mehta assigned insurance benefits to Shady Grove after receiving medical care. Allstate paid part of the assigned benefits. Shady Grove continued to seek the unpaid statutory damages through a class action despite the partial payment already received.
Monica Morgan's company performed road work under a federal contract and received partial progress payments. Disputes over additional costs remained unresolved. The partial payments did not bar further claims for the unpaid balance under the contract.
The purchaser is protected only to the extent of payments made. A court may award title to a prior unrecorded claimant while granting the installment purchaser a lien on the property for the amount already paid.
No. Acceptance of partial payment does not automatically waive claims to the unpaid amount when the payment is made under protest or while litigation continues.
The lien secures repayment of the amount already paid by the installment purchaser. It attaches to the land and balances the prior claimant's title with the purchaser's out-of-pocket investment.
…because "payment of [the royalties due] to the plaintiff class members, instead of extinguishing the debt, constituted only a partial payment on an interest-bearing debt[,] [t]his situation invokes application of the so-called United States Rule,' which provides that in applying partial payments to an interest-bearing debt which…