Also known as:balances due · amount due · outstanding balance
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The amount of money still owed on an obligation after partial payments or credits have been applied.
Sources & Authorities· 12 primary sources
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Statutes
Federal Rules
Uniform Acts
How it applies
Common Examples
6
Mortgage Acceleration After Default
Bruce Baldwin missed three monthly payments on his home loan from Boreal Energy. The lender exercised its acceleration right and declared the full remaining principal plus interest immediately payable. Bruce now faces a foreclosure action seeking the entire balance due rather than only the past-due installments.
Clerk Entry of Default Judgment
Birchwood Apparel sued Bay Area Systems for a fixed licensing fee of $180,000. Bay Area Systems failed to appear after proper service. Birchwood submitted an affidavit showing the precise amount due, and the clerk entered judgment for that sum plus costs.
Benson Motors assigned its right to payment from a customer to Boubacar Bah. After receiving proper notice of the assignment, the customer paid the remaining balance due directly to Boubacar rather than to Benson Motors.
Cross-Collateralized Purchases
Brittany Bell bought furniture on installment from a store that applied every payment pro rata across all her outstanding accounts. When she later defaulted, the store claimed a security interest in every item until the entire balance due on all purchases was paid.
Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co.121 U.S. App. D.C. 315, 319-320, 350 F.2d 445, 449-450 (1965)
Moratorium on Debt Collection
Brooke Bryant owed installments on a land contract. A state law temporarily postponed enforcement of the balance due during an economic emergency. The lender challenged the law as impairing its contractual rights.
Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell290 U.S. 398, 54 S.Ct. 231, 78 L.Ed. 413 (1934)
Postmaster Compensation Dispute
Benito Benitez served as postmaster and claimed unpaid compensation. The government asserted offsets reducing the balance due. The Court examined whether the claimed amount remained owing after proper credits.
Myers v. United States272 U.S. 52 (1926)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
3
When does full payment of the balance due discharge a mortgage?+
Full payment of the outstanding balance discharges the mortgage and entitles the mortgagor to a release. Recording the satisfaction clears the public record but is not required for discharge itself.
Supporting sources
When may a clerk enter default judgment for a sum certain?+
The clerk must enter judgment when the claim is for a sum certain or one that can be made certain by computation, the defendant has defaulted after proper service, and the plaintiff supplies an affidavit showing the amount due.
Supporting sources
What happens after an account debtor receives notice of an assignment?+
After proper notice that the amount due has been assigned, the account debtor may discharge the obligation only by paying the assignee and may no longer pay the assignor.
Supporting sources
378 A.2d 767Property
…to that granted Kridel. Prior to re-letting the new premises, plaintiff sued Kridel in August 1972, demanding $7,590, the total amount due for the full two-year term of the lease. Following a mistrial, plaintiff filed an amended complaint asking for $5,865, the amount due between May 1, 1972 and September 1, 1973. The amended…