Also see accord. An agreement of a contract dispute where the creditor accepts a lesser amount of money owed by a debtor completely in satisfaction of all obligations of the debtor as if the entire amount or value was provided under the agreement. Frequently used by creditors to limit losses and recover some amount, even greatly reduced, from a troubled debtor.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
An agreement between two persons, one of whom has a right of action against the other, that the latter should do or give, and the former accept, something in satisfaction of the right of action different from, and usually less than, what might be legally enforced. When the agreement is executed, and satisfaction has been made, it is called “accord and satisfaction.” Rogers v. Spokane, 9 Wash. 168, 37 Pac. 300; Davis v. Noaks, 3 J. J. Marsh. (Ky.) 494. Accord and satisfaction is the substitution of another agreement between the parties in satisfaction of the former one, and an execu ti6n of the latter agreement Such is the definition of this sort of defense, usually given. But a broader application of the doctrine has been made in later times, where one promise or agreement is set up in satisfaction of another. The rule is that an agreement or promise of the same grade will not be held to be in satisfaction of a prior one, unless it has been expressly accepted as such; as, where a new promissory note has been given in lieu of a former one, to have the effect of a satisfaction of the former, it must have been accepted on an express agreement to that effect.