Atlantic Discount of Ahoskie, Inc. v. Smith

Plaintiff assigns as error the court’s allowing the defendant to present evidence of payment of the indebtedness when payment was not affirmatively pleaded in defendant’s answer.

It is well settled in North Carolina that payment is an affirmative defense and must be specially pleaded.

“Any defense which is intended to operate as a discharge of the obligation set forth in the complaint should be specially pleaded and cannot be proved under a general denial. In a complaint to recover a debt, the usual allegations are the execution of the contract and that it is due and unpaid, but a general…