§ 19-26 Contract - Set-off

• Library: South Carolina Requests to Charge - Civil (SCBar) (2016 Ed.)

§ 19-26 Contract - Set-Off

Set-off is a remedy employed by a defendant to discharge or reduce the plaintiff's demand. A set-off is claimed by a party when sued under which the party seeks to cancel the amount claimed against the party. A set-off is the equitable right to cancel or offset debts or demands.

As a general rule in equity, as at law, it is essential to the establishment of a set-off that the claims or debts be mutual, that is, they must subsist or be owing, between the same parties in the same right or capacity, and must be of the same kind or quality. Equity will not ordinarily allow a set-off of debts accruing in different rights or in dissimilar capacities.

Ordinarily, set-off becomes part of a single controversy between the parties, requiring only one verdict and one judgment according to the facts...