Legal Definitions - tacit remission

Tacit remission refers to the forgiveness or cancellation of a debt, penalty, or obligation that is not explicitly stated or formally agreed upon, but rather is implied by the actions, inactions, or circumstances of the parties involved. The term 'tacit' means understood or implied without being openly expressed, while 'remission' signifies the act of releasing someone from a debt, duty, or penalty. Therefore, tacit remission occurs when a party's conduct clearly indicates an intention to waive or forgive a right, even without a direct declaration.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Example 1: Landlord-Tenant Relationship

  A residential lease agreement specifies a late fee of $50 for any rent payment received after the fifth day of the month. For six consecutive months, the tenant pays rent on the tenth day of the month, and the landlord consistently accepts the late payments without ever imposing or even mentioning the late fee. If, in the seventh month, the landlord suddenly attempts to collect all the accumulated late fees from the previous months, the tenant might argue that the landlord's consistent inaction constituted a tacit remission of those past late fees. The landlord's repeated failure to enforce the late fee clause, despite knowing about the late payments, implies an unspoken agreement to waive them.

• Example 2: Business Contractual Obligations

  A software development company has a contract with a client to deliver monthly updates to an application by the 15th of each month. For several months, the development company consistently delivers the updates on the 20th, five days late. The client, while aware of the delays, continues to accept the updates, integrates them into their system, and pays the invoices in full without ever issuing a formal complaint, penalty, or notice of breach regarding the late deliveries. If the client later tries to sue the development company for breach of contract due to these past delays, the development company could argue tacit remission. The client's continued acceptance of the late deliverables without protest implies a forgiveness of the strict deadline requirement for those specific instances.

• Example 3: Regulatory Compliance

  A small manufacturing plant is subject to local environmental regulations that require a specific, minor weekly report to be submitted to a municipal agency. For over a year, the plant occasionally misses a submission or submits the report a few days late. The municipal agency is aware of these minor lapses through its monitoring but has never issued a warning, fine, or taken any enforcement action. If the agency suddenly decides to penalize the plant for all the accumulated missed or late reports from the past year, the plant might contend that the agency's prolonged inaction and failure to enforce the regulation for those specific instances amounted to a tacit remission of the penalties for those particular infractions. The agency's consistent silence implied a waiver of its right to penalize for those minor, past violations.