Accord and Satisfaction in Florida: Proving the Defense

Accord and satisfaction in Florida is a way to close out a disputed debt: the debtor sends a check (or other negotiable instrument) marked as full payment, the creditor cashes it, and the original claim is wiped out. Florida Statute § 673.3111 governs the mechanics, and the consequences can surprise a creditor who deposits the check assuming they can still sue for the balance.¹

What the Two Words Mean

The “accord” is the new agreement to settle for a different amount. The “satisfaction” is the actual performance of that agreement. Say a homeowner disputes a $5,000 landscaping bill because the work was substandard and the parties agree on $3,500. The agreement is the accord. When the $3,500 changes hands and is accepted, that’s the satisfaction, and the original $5,000 obligation is gone. Both pieces have to be present for the original claim to be extinguished.

When the Defense Applies

Section 673.3111 only reaches debts that are unliquidated or subject to a bona fide dispute. Unliquidated means the amount isn’t fixed. A bona fide dispute means a real disagreement about what’s owed or whether the work was done properly, not a debtor who simply prefers to pay less.¹

If the debt is liquidated and undisputed, the rule flips. Florida Statute § 725.05 requires any agreement to accept less than the full amount of a liquidated debt to be set out in a separate written instrument. A “payment in full” notation on the check itself is not enough. So a debtor who owes a plain, agreed $2,000 invoice cannot short-pay to $1,200 and expect the creditor to lose the remaining $800 just because the check was deposited.

What the Debtor Has to Prove

For the discharge to stick on a disputed debt, the debtor has to show three things:

Good faith. The debtor genuinely believed the amount offered was a fair resolution of the dispute.
A conspicuous statement. The check, or an accompanying writing, clearly says the payment is offered in full satisfaction of the claim. Language like “payment in full” or “cashing this check constitutes acceptance as full settlement” meets the requirement.
The creditor obtained payment. The check was cashed or deposited.¹

When all three are present, the original claim is discharged and the creditor cannot pursue the difference.

Cashing the Check

For disputed debts, cashing is the point of no return. The statute treats the act of obtaining payment as acceptance of the settlement offer. It doesn’t matter whether the creditor subjectively intended to accept or planned to sue for the rest.¹

Consider a creditor who believes a customer owes $10,000 on a disputed contract. The customer sends a check for $6,000 conspicuously marked as payment in full. If the creditor deposits that check, the entire $10,000 claim is extinguished, and the $4,000 balance disappears with it.

A common creditor mistake: crossing out the “payment in full” language, writing “under protest” on the check, and depositing it anyway. That doesn’t work in Florida. Obtaining payment triggers the discharge regardless of anything the creditor writes on the instrument.¹

How a Creditor Can Reject or Undo the Settlement

Return the Check

The cleanest response is to not cash the check at all. Send it back with a letter rejecting the settlement offer and stating the full amount claimed. No payment, no satisfaction, no accord.

Designated Office for Organizations

A business can protect itself before disputed checks ever arrive. If an organization sends the debtor a conspicuous notice directing that communications about disputed debts go to a specific person, office, or address, and the check is not received at that designated location, the claim is not discharged even if another part of the company deposits the check.¹

The protection has a ceiling. Subsection (4) provides that even with a designated office in place, the claim is still discharged if the debtor can prove the creditor, or an agent with direct responsibility over the disputed debt, knew the check was tendered as full satisfaction before the creditor initiated collection on it. An account manager who read the debtor’s letter, understood the offer, and let the company cash the check anyway cannot then hide behind the designated-office rule.¹

The 90-Day Repayment Window

Any claimant, business or individual, can undo an accord and satisfaction by returning the full amount of the check to the debtor within 90 days after the check was paid. This is the statute’s safety valve for accidental deposits. It is not available to an organization that already sent a designated-office notice under subsection (3)(a); the statute treats those two protections as alternatives.¹

The 90 days runs from when the bank processes the check, not from when the creditor notices the problem. A creditor who discovers a mistaken deposit late has very little room to work with.

Making the Defense Hold Up as a Debtor

If you want a “payment in full” check to actually resolve a disputed debt, the details matter. Write “PAYMENT IN FULL” clearly on the memo line and include a cover letter stating that the enclosed check is offered as complete settlement of the disputed amount. Identify the specific invoice, contract, or claim by name or number so there is no ambiguity about which debt you’re settling.

Send the check by certified mail with a return receipt. If the creditor later claims never to have seen the settlement language, you have proof of delivery. And if the creditor has already told you to direct disputed-debt communications to a specific person or address, send it there. A check that lands at a general lockbox instead of the designated office may lose the defense entirely.

Finally, the dispute has to be genuine. Section 673.3111 does not rescue a debtor who short-pays a liquidated, undisputed bill and hopes the magic words will do the rest. The defense is built for real disagreements, and the courts and the statute both treat it that way.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 673.3111 – Accord and Satisfaction by Use of Instrument