Text of the provision
Art. 1285. The debtor who has consented to the assignment of rights made by a creditor in favor of a third person, cannot set up against the assignee the compensation which would pertain to him against the assignor, unless the assignor was notified by the debtor at the time he gave his consent, that he reserved his right to the compensation. If the creditor communicated the cession to him but the debtor did not consent thereto, the latter may set up the compensation of debts previous to the cession, but not of subsequent ones. If the assignment is made without the knowledge of the debtor, he may set up the compensation of all credits prior to the same and also later ones until he had knowledge of the assignment.
(1198a)
Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles official-text renderings.
What this article means
Whether the debtor may still raise compensation against an assignee depends on the debtor's role in the assignment: a debtor who consented loses it (unless he reserved it); one merely notified keeps compensation for debts before the cession; and one kept ignorant keeps it for all debts until he learns of the assignment.
Related provisions
- Article 1284 — Rescissible or Voidable Debts.
- Article 1286 — Compensation Despite Different Places.
Cases interpreting this article
- Authorities on this article will be added here as each is verified against primary sources.