Also known as: non-payment · nonpayments · non payment · failure to pay
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A failure to deliver money or other valuables when due in discharge of an obligation. The failure may trigger contractual remedies such as acceleration of a debt or render an instrument overdue until cured.
New Horizon Media borrowed from Nexus Financial to purchase farmland and granted a mortgage containing an acceleration clause. After crop prices fell, New Horizon Media missed three monthly installments. Nexus Financial mailed written notice declaring the entire loan due and scheduled a foreclosure sale. New Horizon Media tendered only the arrears, but the bank refused reinstatement because the full accelerated balance remained unpaid.
Nestor Navarro formed Northern Manufacturing as a corporation and served as its sole shareholder and officer. The company never paid dividends despite consistent profits, maintained no corporate records, and Navarro siphoned funds for personal use. When a creditor sought to pierce the veil after Northern Manufacturing became insolvent, the court weighed the nonpayment of dividends among other factors showing the entity was a mere facade.
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Natalie Norris executed a promissory note payable to Nightingale Healthcare in twelve monthly installments. After making the first four payments, Norris defaulted on the fifth installment and made no further payments. Because the due date had not been accelerated, the note became overdue upon the installment default and remained overdue until the default was cured.
Nicholas Nunez fell behind on court-ordered child support payments to his former spouse. The state initiated civil contempt proceedings that could result in incarceration. Because the opposing parent was unrepresented and the court provided notice of the importance of ability to pay plus an express finding on that issue, due process did not require appointment of counsel for Nunez.
Nia Nkosi resided in one state while her child lived in another. After willfully failing to pay past-due child support for several months, Nkosi was charged under the Child Support Recovery Act. Prosecutors filed the case in the district where the child resided, which was a proper venue because the offense was begun, continued, and completed there.
Natasha Nielsen operated a religious organization that owned real property. The organization failed to pay assessed property taxes, prompting the taxing authority to schedule a sale. Because the property qualified for a tax exemption under applicable constitutional standards, the nonpayment did not result in loss of the exemption or forced conveyance.
No. Acceleration requires an affirmative act by the mortgagee, typically written notice after default that specifies when the full balance becomes due. Until the notice's effective date, the mortgagor may cure by paying only the arrears.
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If the instrument is payable in installments and the due date has not been accelerated, it becomes overdue upon default in payment of an installment and remains overdue until the default is cured.
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No. Due process does not automatically require counsel for an indigent defendant in civil contempt proceedings for failure to pay child support when the opposing parent is unrepresented and the state supplies alternative safeguards such as notice of ability-to-pay issues and an express court finding on that question.
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Venue lies in any district where the offense was begun, continued, or completed.
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Nonpayment of dividends is one factor in the totality-of-the-circumstances test. Courts also examine inadequate capitalization, failure to observe corporate formalities, insolvency, siphoning of funds, and whether the corporation was merely a facade for the dominant shareholder.
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…(1962). Indeed, we have frequently observed that whether a particular restriction will be rendered invalid by the government’s failure to pay for any losses proximately caused by it depends largely “upon the particular circumstances [in that] case.” United States v. Central Eureka Mining Co. , 357 U. S. 155, 168 (1958); see…