Don't wait if you have debt or a service related dispute - offset is possible.

DON’T WAIT. MITIGATE. Contact me for a one hour, paid legal consultation through my website (https://www.tribal-consultants.info/) or DM Helen Nowlin, Esq on LinkedIn.

Do you have a dispute regarding your service provider’s breach of contract or have information, to imply the service provider breached first? Are you falling behind on what is known as unsecured debt, such as credit cards?

Setoff, settle and close is a term of law that allows you to close an account and have your ALLEGED DEBT set off by the amount the other party owes you! It can put you back in the driver's seat and become the creditor in fact in this scenario. The sooner you act, to create a paper trail the better the outcome.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the issue of setoffs in Central Freight Lines, Inc. v. Amazon Fulfillment Services in the context of a shipper-carrier relationship under Washington law. After a dispute arose about the amount Central Freight was charging Amazon for “spot quote rates,” Amazon began setting off payment of Central Freight’s invoices. The district court granted Central Freight’s motion for summary judgment, finding that “Amazon had no right [to] withhold monies owed to Central Freight as a setoff.” On appeal, Amazon argued that all creditors have a common-law right to withhold payment when the counterparty owes them an equivalent sum. This position follows the law of many states. But the court rejected this argument, noting that under Washington law “mutual debts do not extinguish one another…‘rather, the agreement of the parties or judicial action is required.’” 

                This brings me back to the paper trail. The 9^th Circuit suggests the parties can agree to mutual extinguishment, even unilaterally by knowing and using the power of smart contracting. In the Central Freight case, the Appellate Court suggested that setoffs can be used when either: (1) both parties agree through formal or informal negotiation; (2) state common law or a statute gives the party such a right; or (3) a court has stepped in and said so. In Washington State, refer to RCW 12.08.120. If a lawsuit is filed against you, it is required, to set off the amount owed against the debt indicated in the suit, the relief must be alleged in your answer to the suit, or the right to set off may be waived.

We can work as a team, so contact my office now.