Minnesota gives the other party 30 days to answer a written settlement offer, according to Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota. Michigan treats a good-faith, reasonable written offer not accepted within 21 days as rejected, according to Michigan Legislature. Michigan's percentage tests set a defendant's offer at not less than 90% and a plaintiff's offer at not more than 110% of the amount actually received by the plaintiff through judgment, according to Michigan Legislature.
Key takeaways
- write down the date each offer is made, because the Michigan count runs from the date the offer is made, according to Michigan Legislature.
- keep every offer and counteroffer in date order, since under the quoted Minnesota wording later exchanges supersede the legal effect of earlier ones, according to Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota.
- read the Michigan interest provision as a tort provision, because the quoted text limits it to a civil action based on tort, according to Michigan Legislature.
- respond by the date stated in the court papers, according to California Office of the Attorney General.
Why offer timing matters
An unpaid bill that reaches court turns a payment question into a deadline question. A settlement offer in that setting arrives with dates that need to be tracked in writing, and the two states covered here set those dates differently. Each offer should be read against the rules of the state where the case is pending, because the rules in this article come from two different states and do not carry over automatically from one to the other.
The California guidance on debt collectors makes a similar point about court papers. It says "Make sure you respond by the date stated in the court papers so you can defend yourself in court," according to California Office of the Attorney General. That page is about debt collectors, and the sentence speaks to response dates rather than to settlement offers. This article covers the Minnesota and Michigan offer rules and does not cover California's rules.
The same page adds that "If you are sued, you may want to consult an attorney," according to California Office of the Attorney General. A Minnesota window, a Michigan rejection count, and a response date in court papers may all apply to one case. How they interact is a question for a qualified professional, so track each date separately until one reviews the case.
Minnesota: the 30-day window
The Minnesota provision applies when a written offer of settlement is served. It says that if either party serves a written offer, "the other party may serve a written acceptance or a written counteroffer within 30 days," according to Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota. In practice, the window is the period in which the other side answers the offer in writing, either by accepting it or by making a counteroffer.
Both possible replies are written. The sentence names a written acceptance and a written counteroffer, so a reader should keep the reply on paper or in email and record the date it was sent. A spoken reply does not fit that wording, and a dated written record makes the response easy to show later.
The same provision includes an allocation rule for damages. It says that "the amount of settlement offer must be allocated between past and future damages in the same proportion as determined by the trier of fact," according to Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota. The sentence leaves the proportion to the trier of fact. An unpaid invoice claim may not involve future damages, so check whether an offer names any split before applying this rule.
When the 30 days begin is a separate question. A simple planning habit is to treat the day the offer was served as the starting point and count 30 days forward from that date. That starting point is a planning assumption, not a rule the quote sets. Court papers may state a separate response date, and that date belongs on the calendar next to the 30-day count.
Since the count needs a starting point, write down the service date first. A copy of the offer kept with its service date gives a reader one place to check both the start and the end of the count.
Illustrative example: counting 30 days
Suppose a written offer is served on day 0, an illustrative start date chosen only for counting. Counting 30 days forward gives day 30 as the end of the window under the planning assumption above. If the court papers give a separate response date, write it on the calendar next to day 30 and check it against the papers.
This article describes one Minnesota provision. How that provision applies to an unpaid invoice case, and how a Minnesota court would treat a particular offer, are questions for a qualified professional.
Michigan: the 21-day rule
The Michigan section sets a clock for a written offer. It says that a good-faith, reasonable written offer of settlement made according to this section is rejected if it is not accepted within 21 days after the offer is made, according to Michigan Legislature. The count starts from the date the offer is made, so the date written on the offer carries weight in any later calculation.
Two qualifiers in that sentence need attention. The offer has to be good-faith and reasonable, and it has to be made according to the section. How a court applies either point is a question for a qualified professional, so check each offer against those words before relying on the 21-day count.
Before relying on either Michigan sentence, compare the offer's wording with the statutory phrase for a good-faith, reasonable written offer of settlement, because both provisions use that wording. A letter that describes itself in other words should be reviewed before the 21-day count is used.
A separate Michigan provision addresses interest. It says that if a good-faith, reasonable written offer of settlement in a civil action based on tort is rejected by the plaintiff, interest is not allowed beyond the date the offer is filed with the court, according to Michigan Legislature. That provision names a civil action based on tort in its own words, and this article does not treat it as governing an unpaid invoice dispute. For a separate question about when interest starts, see Judgment interest start date: 7 rules by state and debt.
Keep the rejection count and the interest provision apart when you read the Michigan section. The 21-day sentence addresses whether an offer is rejected, and the interest sentence addresses when interest stops. Each one answers a different question, and neither answers the other.
The 90% and 110% tests
The Michigan section sets two limits on offers, and both are measured against the same figure. For an offer made by a defendant, the quoted text requires "a written offer of settlement that is not less than 90% of the amount actually received by the plaintiff in the action through judgment," according to Michigan Legislature.
For an offer made by a plaintiff, the limit runs the other way. The quoted text requires "a written offer of settlement that is not more than 110% of the amount actually received by the plaintiff in the action through judgment," according to Michigan Legislature.
In plain terms, a defendant's offer has to sit at or above the 90% line, and a plaintiff's offer has to sit at or below the 110% line. Both lines are measured against the amount the plaintiff actually received through judgment, according to Michigan Legislature. The two limits do not overlap in direction, so a single offer is checked against only the line that matches who made it.
The test needs one figure, the amount actually received through judgment. Until that figure exists, an offer cannot be placed against either line. A useful habit is to record the offer, its date, and who made it now, then recalculate once the judgment figure is known.
Both limits share that one reference figure, so an error in it moves both lines at once. Copy the phrase amount actually received by the plaintiff in the action through judgment into your worksheet exactly as the quote states it, rather than a shortened version. The interest sentence names tort actions, while the percentage sentences are worded without that reference. Whether these limits reach an unpaid invoice case is a question for a qualified professional.
How later offers replace earlier ones
The Minnesota provision addresses sequences of offers directly. It says that "Subsequent offers and counteroffers supersede the legal effect of earlier offers and counteroffers," according to Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota.
Under that wording, an earlier offer gives way to a later one in legal effect. How that affects the 30-day window attached to an earlier offer is a separate question for a qualified professional. A useful habit is to keep each offer and counteroffer as its own entry, with the date it was made and the party who made it, so the latest exchange is easy to find.
A counteroffer should get its own entry in that record, with its own date. Whether a counteroffer restarts the 30-day window is also a question for a qualified professional, so do not assume an answer either way.
A practical log has several fields for each entry: the date, the party who made it, and whether the entry is an offer, an acceptance, or a counteroffer. Those labels follow the quoted Minnesota wording, which treats offers and counteroffers as separate kinds of exchange.
Before sending a reply, compare its date with the newest entry in the log, so an older offer is not treated as the live one. Doing that check protects the record of which exchange came last.
The Minnesota wording should not be carried over to Michigan without checking the Michigan text itself. The same caution applies to the 21-day count, since the Michigan sentence is worded around the date the offer is made.
Compare your own offer to these numbers
| Publisher | Quoted rule | Figure in the quote |
|---|---|---|
| Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota | written acceptance or written counteroffer | within 30 days |
| Michigan Legislature | good-faith, reasonable written offer not accepted | within 21 days after the offer is made; not less than 90%; not more than 110% |
Read the table row by row.
The first thing to record is the date the offer was made. Next, identify the state where the case is pending and read the section for that state. Then place the offer against its matching limit: the 30-day window for Minnesota, or the 21-day count and the 90% and 110% lines for Michigan.
Compare each limit against the court papers as well. A response date stated in the papers is a separate fact from the statutory window, and it can sit on a different day. Which date controls in a given case is a question for a qualified professional.
Write the log entries in the order the events happened, so the record, the table, and the court papers can be read side by side without reordering anything. For the due date side of invoice terms, see Invoice payment schedules: 4 tools for due date setup.
Your next step is to put the response deadline from any offer on your calendar and record each offer's amount now, so it can be placed against the 90% and 110% lines once the judgment figure is known.
FAQ
How long do I have to answer a Minnesota settlement offer?
The other party may serve a written acceptance or a written counteroffer within 30 days, according to Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota. The start of the count is a separate question, so a common planning habit is to count from the service date and check the court papers for any response date.
When is a Michigan offer considered rejected?
A good-faith, reasonable written offer of settlement that is not accepted within 21 days after the offer is made is rejected, according to Michigan Legislature. The offer also has to meet the good-faith and reasonable wording and be made according to the section, and the offer date is the figure to record.
What do 90% and 110% mean in Michigan?
They set limits on the amount of an offer. A defendant's written offer must be not less than 90%, and a plaintiff's written offer must be not more than 110%, of the amount actually received by the plaintiff through judgment, according to Michigan Legislature. The two limits are checked separately, one for each side that made the offer.
Do later offers replace earlier ones?
In Minnesota, subsequent offers and counteroffers supersede the legal effect of earlier offers and counteroffers, according to Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota. The Minnesota answer does not carry over to Michigan, so check Michigan's own wording before using it for a Michigan case.