Partial Payment of Monthly Bills Supported Account Stated Cause of Action

The First Department determined the acceptance of monthly bills and partial payment entitled plaintiff to summary judgment on the cause of action for an account stated:

An account stated is an agreement, express or implied, between the parties to an account based upon prior transactions between them with respect to the correctness of account items and a specific balance due on them … . “An agreement may be implied where a defendant retains bills without objecting to them within a reasonable period of time, or makes partial payment on the account” … . Here, in support of its motion for summary judgment the plaintiff submitted monthly billing statements from January 2007 through March 2008, and an affidavit from a document control officer who averred that the billing statements were sent to the defendant at his home address, that the defendant accepted and retained those statements without objection, and that he made partial payments on the account until on or about December 2007 when payments ceased. This evidence was sufficient to establish the plaintiff’s entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on the cause of action for an account stated … . Citibank (South Dakota) NA v Cutler, 2013 NY Slip Op 08042, 2nd Dept 12-4-13