Montana Code 25-4-403. Counterclaim in action on contract
25-4-403. Counterclaim in action on contract. A counterclaim on a contract is subject to the following rules:
Terms Used In Montana Code 25-4-403
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Counterclaim: A claim that a defendant makes against a plaintiff.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. Source: OCC
(1)Except as otherwise provided by the Uniform Commercial Code, if the action is founded upon a contract that has been assigned by the party to the contract, a demand existing against the party to the contract or an assignee of the contract at the time of the assignment and belonging to the defendant, in good faith, before notice of the assignment must be allowed as a counterclaim to the amount of the plaintiff‘s demand if it might have been allowed against the party or the assignee while the contract belonged to the party or the assignee.
(2)If the plaintiff is a trustee for another or if the action is in the name of the plaintiff who has no actual interest in the contract upon which it is founded, a demand against the plaintiff may not be allowed as a counterclaim, but so much of a demand existing against the person whom the plaintiff represents or for whose benefit the action is brought as will satisfy the plaintiff’s demand must be allowed as a counterclaim if it might have been allowed in an action brought by the person beneficially interested.