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Are there any legal defenses for account stated?
Anonymous5 views3 answers
In florida, what does a plaintiff have to prove in an account stated claim. also are there any legal defense. does the plaintiff have to attach any documents to the complaint in order to avoid a motion to dismiss?
Rebecca Clayton LavieState, Local, and Municipal Law AttorneySaint Augustine, FL ·
There is case law that suggests that equitable causes of action, such as account stated, are not available if an express agreement exists concerning the same subject matter. I don't know if this is the case for you or not. You should consult an attorney who does debt collection defense work to examine the complaint that has been filed against you and determine what defenses, if any, are available to you. Keep in mind that once you have been served with a complaint, you only have 20 days to submit a response or you risk having a default judgment filed against you.
Typically, all that is required is previous business transactions between the parties and an agreement on the balance. The agreement can be proven by averring an account statement was sent to the defendant and that the defendant did not object to the statement within a reasonable amount of time. They are required to attach a statement to the complaint, (some court will require more, most will not based on the Farley case) typically it is the final charge off statement.
See this posting that I did regarding account stated for some other information.
http://maderpacker.com/account-stated-dont-be-a...
An Account Stated is based on the theory that if someone gets a bill and does not object, then there is a presumption that the amount of the debt is correct. That is a rebuttable presumption, which means the Defendant can claim that the document was not received, so the failure to object should create no presumption.
Florida law requires attachment of the document. In fact, the official form for Account Stated found in the rules of civil procedure says so.
