Rent Owed

February 2, 2015

In a dispute over an $1,800 monthly rental payment, the Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment in favor of the landlord and rejected several arguments by the tenant that the trial court had erred.  One such argument was the tenant’s contention that because the landlord had altered the memo line of several checks he had sent her, his obligation to pay rent was discharged.  Apparently, the landlord changed the memo line to reflect the month for which she applied the tenant’s payment.

Because the landlord had not acted with fraudulent intent, and because the notation did not change anything material about the check, the Court held that the affirmative defense of discharge did not apply.

Cunningham v. Anglin