California Civil Code. California
must not be mixed with other things from which it cannot be separated immediately and without difficulty.
(Enacted 1872.)
1498. When a debtor is entitled to the performance of a condition precedent to, or concurrent with, performance on his part, he may make his offer to depend upon the due performance of such condition.
(Enacted 1872.)
1499. A debtor has a right to require from his creditor a written receipt for any property delivered in performance of his obligation.
(Enacted 1872.)
1500. An obligation for the payment of money is extinguished by a due offer of payment, if the amount is immediately deposited in the name of the creditor, with some bank or savings and loan association within this state, of good repute, and notice thereof is given to the creditor.
(Amended by Stats. 1981, Ch. 632, Sec. 1. Effective September 23, 1981.)
1501. All objections to the mode of an offer of performance, which the creditor has an opportunity to state at the time to the person making the offer, and which could be then obviated by him, are waived by the creditor, if not then stated.
(Enacted 1872.)
1502. The title to a thing duly offered in performance of an obligation passes to the creditor, if the debtor at the time signifies his intention to that effect.
(Enacted 1872.)
1503. The person offering a thing, other than money, by way of performance, must, if he means to treat it as belonging to the creditor, retain it as a depositary for hire, until the creditor accepts it, or until he has given reasonable notice to the creditor that he will retain it no longer, and, if with reasonable diligence he can find a suitable depositary therefor, until he has deposited it with such person.
(Enacted 1872.)
1504. An offer of payment or other performance, duly made, though the title to the thing offered be not transferred to the creditor, stops the running of interest on the obligation, and has the same effect upon all its incidents as a performance thereof.
(Enacted 1872.)
1505. If anything is given to a creditor by way of performance, which he refuses to accept as such, he is not bound to return it without demand; but if he retains it, he is a gratuitous depositary thereof.
(Enacted 1872.)
CHAPTER 3. Prevention of Performance or Offer [1511 — 1515]
(Chapter 3 enacted 1872.)
1511. The want of performance of an obligation, or of an offer of performance, in whole or in part, or any delay therein, is excused by the following causes, to the extent to which they operate:
1. When such performance or offer is prevented or delayed by the act of the creditor, or by the operation of law, even though there may have been a stipulation that this shall not be an excuse; however, the parties may expressly require in a contract that the party relying on the provisions of this paragraph give written notice to the other party or parties, within a reasonable time after the occurrence of the event excusing performance, of an intention to claim an extension of time or of an intention to bring suit or of any other similar or related intent, provided the requirement of such notice is reasonable and just;
2. When it is prevented or delayed by an irresistible, superhuman cause, or by the act of public enemies of this state or of the United States, unless the parties have expressly agreed to the contrary; or,
3. When the debtor is induced not to make it, by any act of the creditor intended or naturally tending to have that effect, done at or before the time at which such performance or offer may be made, and not rescinded before that time.
(Amended by Stats. 1965, Ch. 1730.)
[1512.] Section Fifteen Hundred and Twelve. If the performance of an obligation be prevented by the creditor, the debtor is entitled to all the benefits which he would have obtained if it had been performed by both parties.
(Amended by Code Amendments 1873-74, Ch. 612.)
1514. If performance of an obligation is prevented by any cause excusing performance, other than the act of the creditor, the debtor is entitled to a ratable proportion of the consideration to which he would have been entitled upon full performance, according to the benefit which the creditor receives from the actual performance.
(Enacted 1872.)
1515. A refusal by a creditor to accept performance, made before an offer thereof, is equivalent to an offer and refusal, unless, before performance is actually due, he gives notice to the debtor of his willingness to accept it.
(Enacted 1872.)
CHAPTER 4. Accord and Satisfaction [[1521.] — 1526]
(Chapter 4 enacted 1872.)
[1521.] Section Fifteen Hundred and Twenty-one. An accord is an agreement to accept, in extinction of an obligation, something different from or less than that to which the person agreeing to accept is entitled.
(Amended by Code Amendments 1873-74, Ch. 612.)
1522. Though the parties to an accord are bound to execute it, yet it does not extinguish the obligation until it is fully executed.
(Enacted 1872.)
1523. Acceptance, by the creditor, of the consideration of an accord extinguishes the obligation, and is called satisfaction.
(Enacted 1872.)
[1524.] Section Fifteen Hundred and Twenty-four. Part performance of an obligation, either before or after a breach thereof, when expressly accepted by the creditor in writing, in satisfaction, or rendered in pursuance of an agreement in writing for that purpose, though without any new consideration, extinguishes the obligation.
(Amended by Code Amendments 1873-74, Ch. 612.)
1525. It is the public policy of this State, in the best interests of the taxpayer and of the litigant, to encourage fair dealing and to promote justice by reducing litigated matters to the lowest level of jurisdiction.
In case of a dispute over total money due on a contract and it is conceded by the parties that part of the money is due, the debtor may pay, without condition, the amount conceded to be due, leaving to the other party all remedies to which he might otherwise be entitled as to any balance claimed.
If any conditions are attached to the payment, this section shall not be deemed to have limited the remedies available to the other party under other provisions of law on the original amount claimed.
(Added by Stats. 1963, Ch. 1495.)
1526. (a) Where a claim is disputed or unliquidated and a check or draft is tendered by the debtor in settlement thereof in full discharge of the claim, and the words “payment in full” or other words of similar meaning are notated on the check or draft, the acceptance of the check or draft does not constitute an accord and satisfaction if the creditor protests against accepting the tender in full payment by striking out or otherwise deleting that notation or if the acceptance of the check or draft was inadvertent or without knowledge of the notation.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the acceptance of a check or draft constitutes an accord and satisfaction if a check or draft is tendered pursuant to a composition or extension agreement between a debtor and its creditors, and pursuant to that composition or extension agreement, all creditors of the same class are accorded similar treatment, and the creditor receives the check or draft with knowledge of the restriction.
A creditor shall be conclusively presumed to have knowledge of the restriction if a creditor either:
(1) Has, previous to the receipt of the check or draft, executed a written consent to the composition or extension agreement.
(2) Has been given, not less than 15 days nor more than 90 days