[¶ 1] Kеith Jensen appealed from a judgment entered by the district court following a bench trial on a contract dispute. We affirm, concluding the district court did not err in denying Jensen’s claim for an offset or in admitting evidence. We also conclude that the court did not err in finding in favor of Forbes Equity Exchange on its assigned claim against Jensen.
I
[¶ 2] From 1998 through 2009, Jensen owned a cattle feedlot in South Dakota. Jensеn did not personally operate the feedlot but utilized it for his cattle-brokering business. Jensen leased the feedlot to Arden Sieh under a five-year written lease agreement. The lease payments were $115,000 per year. The written lease expired in 2003, but Sieh continued to operate the feedlot under an oral lease agreement with Jensen. Throughout the written and oral lease terms, Siеh provided feed and care for cattle corralled at the feedlot that were owned by Jensen and other cattle owners.
[¶ 3] Near the end of the written lease term, Sieh discontinued paying monthly rent payments to Jensen. Rather than making payments, Sieh deducted from his monthly rent payment the amount of money that Jensen owed Sieh for the feed and care services Sieh provided Jensen’s cattle at the feedlot. This crediting arrangement continued after the expiration of the written lease. Sieh claimed that, over the course of the arrangement, Jensen’s cattle consumed more feed than the amount of money Sieh owed Jensen for rental pay
[¶ 4] While operating the feedlot, Sieh purchased cattle feed from Forbes Equity Exchange, Inc. (“FEE”), a North Dakota cooperative grain elevator. In 2010, FEE filed a complaint against Sieh and Jensen for $166,015.18 worth of corn purchased by Sieh on an open account that was allegedly never paid. FEE alleged Jensen’s cattle consumed the feed.
[¶ 5] In March 2011, FEE withdrew its claim against Sieh for the unpaid feed. In exсhange, Sieh assigned to FEE all potential claims he had against Jensen for cattle feed and care services that exceeded Sieh’s rent payments. FEE amended its complaint, and raised Sieh’s claims for cattle-care costs in addition to its original suit against Jensen for unpaid cattle feed.
[¶ 6] In May 2011, Jensen filed a third-party complaint against Sieh for the collection of past debts, including bounced checks, missed rent payments, unpaid loans and interest, missing cattle, damaged feedlot property, and other financial obligations arising from Sieh’s operation of Jensen’s feedlot. In December 2011, Sieh filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Sieh included Jensen’s third-party claim in his bankruptcy petition. In April 2012, Sieh was discharged of all bankruptcy debts, including Jensen’s creditor claim of $3,561,398.09.
[¶ 7] At the Novеmber 2012 bench trial, the district court dismissed FEE’s claim against Jensen for the unpaid feed, but determined Jensen owed FEE $803,501.48 on its assigned claim for the feed and care Sieh provided Jensen’s cattle. The court found “Jensen introduced no credible evidence of any claims against Sieh for ‘money loaned’ or ‘insufficient funds on checks’ after the year 2003, when the parties agreed they were ‘even.’ ” The court stated, “[t]he rent that Sieh owed to Jensen was paid by Sieh crediting Jensen for $115,000 per year ... there was no credible evidence that Sieh owed Jensen the Jensen bankruptcy claim of $3,561,398.09, that could be used to setoff against Sieh’s claims against Jensen.” The court also determined, that even if there was credible evidence of the offsetting claim, the claim was discharged by bankruptcy.
II
[¶ 8] Our standard of review for an appeal from a bench trial is well-established:
In an appeal from a bench trial, the trial court’s findings of fact are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard of N.D.R.Civ.P. 52(a) and its conclusions of law are fully reviewable. A finding of fact is clearly erroneous if it is induced by an erroneous view of the law, if there is no evidence to support it, or if, after reviewing all thе evidence, we are left with a definite and firm conviction a mistake has been made. “In a bench trial, the trial court is ‘the determiner of credibility issues and we do not second-guess the trial court on its credibility determinations.’ ”
Brash v. Gulleson,
III
[¶ 9] On appeal, Jensen argues that, because Sieh assigned his potential claims against Jensen to FEE before Sieh filed for bankruptcy protection, FEE is subject to all the claims and defenses available to Jensen, including his alleged offset claim. Jensen claims “Sieh’s subsequent filing for bankruptcy protection has no bearing or impact upon the assignment, as Jensen’s claims and defenses are measured at the time of the assignment.” (Emphasis removed). Jensen contends that, be
[¶ 10] As a rule, “an assignee of a chose in action takes subject to any defenses existing at the time of the assignment or before notice of the assignment.”
Global Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Duttenhefner,
[b]ecause an assignee acquires no greater rights than were possessed by the assignor, in an action on the claim аssigned, the assignee of a chose in action is ordinarily subject to any setoff or counterclaim available to the obligor against the assignor, and to all other defenses and equities that could have been asserted against the assignor at the time of the assignment.
Bydal,
[If 11] An “offset” is defined as “[s]omething (such as an amount or claim) that balances or compensates for something else.... ”
Black’s Law Dictionary
1195 (9th ed.2009). “The final equitable concept of ‘offset’ recognizes that the debt- or may satisfy a creditor’s claim by acquiring a claim that serves to counterbalance or to compensate for the creditor’s claim.”
Id.
“ ‘Offset’ is synonymous with ‘setoff.’ ”
Dakota Partners, L.L.P. v. Glopak, Inc.,
[¶ 12] The Bankruptcy Code preserves the rights of creditors to offset mutual debts that arose before the bankruptcy petition was filed; the Code “does not affect any right of a creditor to offset a mutual debt owing by such creditor to the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case under this title against a claim of such creditor against the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case....” 11 U.S.C. § 553(a) (2012). To establish a right of setoff under 11 U.S.C. § 553(a), the creditor must establish the following three elements:
1. A debt еxists from the creditor to the debtor and that debt arose prior to the commencement of the bankruptcy case.
2. The creditor has a claim against the debtor which arose prior to the commencement of the bankruptcy case.
3. The debt and the claim are mutual obligations.
In re Sauer,
[¶ 13] Here, it is clear that Sieh assigned to FEE his potential сause of action against Jensen prior to filing his bankruptcy petition. In March 2011, Sieh assigned
[¶ 14] The district court relied on two rationales for why Jensen’s offsetting claim was not proper. First, the court found, “Jensen introduced no credible evidence of claims against Sieh for years after 2003, except rent, for which Sieh credited Jensen.” Second, the court reasoned, “[e]ven if there were any claims, such were discharged in the Sieh bankruptcy and are not applicable to FEE.” FEE argues the issue of whether the bankruptcy discharge “of Jensen’s claims against Sieh also eliminated any Jensen claims against Sieh from being offset against the judgment FEE obtained against Jensen, would become relevant only if there were any valid Jensen claims against Sieh that were not already included in the trial court’s determination of damages.”
[¶ 15] We conclude that the crux of the district court’s ruling is based on its factual determination that Jensen did not possess any valid claims against Sieh for over three-million dollars that could be used as an offset. The court’s legal determination that the offset was discharged or moot is auxiliary to its analysis, especially in light of its “even if’ language. Here, the district court found that Jensen presented no credible claims at trial, and the claim of a setoff was not based on facts existing at the time of the assignment.
See Bydal,
[¶ 16] The court’s finding that there was no amount or claim to сounterbalance or offset FEE’s claim against Jensen was a factual finding. Factual findings are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard.
Brash,
[¶ 18] Jensen testified he had no objection with the “Payments Made By KJ” column in Exhibit # 5. Jensen testified he disagreed with the amount in the “Billing to KJ,” but he did not provide any documentation or evidence to refute the billing numbers. The court found, “[although Jensen and Joy Jensen testified that they disagreed with some of the bills on the ‘Billing to KJ’ column of Exhibit P-5, neither speсified with which bills they disagreed, or in what manner the bills are inaccurate.” Additionally, “Jensen offered no evidence as to what should be the correct billing from Sieh to Jensen, and introduced no documentation to discredit the Exhibit P-5 summary, or any of the bills from Sieh to Jensen that Lunders introduced into evidence.”
[¶ 19] Based on this evidence, we conclude the district court did not err in finding Jensen was unable to produce any satisfactory evidence for an offset. The trial court had adequate opportunity to weigh the evidence and credibility of the witnesses as well as their claims. There is ample evidence to support the court’s finding that Jensen did not introduce any credible evidence of any claims against Sieh “in the total amount of $8,561,398.09 for past due debts, including bounced checks, missed rent paymеnts, unpaid loans with interest, missing cattle, damaged or missing feedlot property....” Because we conclude the district court’s finding is not clearly erroneous that Jensen failed to introduce any credible evidence of an offset claim against Sieh, we need not answer whether the district court erred in its ancillary finding that, even if there was an offset, the Jensen claim against Sieh was discharged by Sieh’s bankruptcy.
See Wahl v. Morton Cnty. Soc. Servs.,
IV
[¶ 20] Jensen argues the district court erred in admitting FEE’S Exhibit # 5 summary evidence without requiring production of the underlying documents. Jensen contends that certain binders containing invoices unique to Jensen were not produced during discovery or at trial. Exhibit # 5 was initially introduced for identification purposes only, but was received as a full exhibit after foundation for its admission had been laid with the admission of Exhibits # 6 through # 57. Exhibits # 6 through # 57 were comprised of numerous
[¶ 21] Jensen essentially alleges that Exhibit # 5 and its supporting documents do not accurately reflect the financial and business dealings between Sieh and Jensen because they do not include Jensen’s billing invоices. Jensen often purchased and sold livestock in quick succession as part of his cattle brokering business. He claims that “in the frequent situation where cattle purchased by Jensen were ultimately sold to another party who paid the feed and care bill, Ms. Lunders purportedly went through Jensen’s billings and subtracted out the feed and care charges by making handwritten notations on the ‘Pro Mini’ generated invoices.... ” The alleged billing revisions could not be made on the Pro Mini computer program, but had to be manually backed out and written in by hand. According to Jensen, “[t]his backing out could not be verified before, during, or after trial because the underlying ‘Pro Mini’ generated invoices for Jensen on which the back outs were recorded have never been produced.” Jensen alleges, “[t]he ‘Pro Mini’ generated invoices for Jensen are also the only source of information showing the amount of feed consumed by Jensen cattle, the cost of said feed, whether the feed was attributed to another customer through a back out, and whether the invoice was sent to Jensen.”
[¶ 22] Jensen did not file a motion to compel production of the alleged binders. At trial, Jensen filed a motion in limine to exclude Exhibit # 5, “based on a failure to provide the underlying documents on which the summaries were based.” The court denied his motion and also denied his objection at trial. The court stated, “[w]ith respect to those documents, the binders and so forth, you know, these things should have been at least tried to focus on in discovery.” The court also stated that the supporting documents produced at trial gave “credence with respect to the [Exhibit # 5] Summary because everyone of them is listed there,” and the “[documents] match date for date and amount for amount.” In its order for judgment, the court found that FEE introduced into evidence nearly every one of the individual bills to Jensen that were included in the “Billing to KJ” column of Exhibit # 5, along with backup documents available for each bill introduced as Exhibits # 6 through # 57. Additionally, the court found that Jensen offered no evidence as to what should be the correct billing from Sieh to Jensen, and no documentation to discredit Exhibit # 5 or any of its supporting bills.
[¶ 23] In reviewing the decision of a district court concerning eviden-tiary matters, this Court has stated, “we will not overturn its admission or exclusion of evidence on appeal unless that discretion has been abused.”
Schwab v. Zajac,
[¶ 24] We conclude the court did not err in admitting Exhibit # 5 or its supporting documents. Exhibit # 5 was admitted,
V
[¶ 25] Jensen also argues the district court erred in finding in favor of FEE on its assigned claim against Jensen. Whether the district court erred in finding in favor of FEE is viewed under the clearly erroneous standard. The district court “accepted all the claims by Sieh for cattle feeding and other services to Jensen from 2004 until the end of 2008, and deducted the amount of rent due to Jensen for the feedlot, the payments Jеnsen made for the feeding ... and the loans made to Sieh.”
[¶ 26] The ruling of the district court is not clearly erroneous for many of the reasons that were discussed in Section III of this opinion. Both parties testified they were financially even in 2008. Lunders introduced into evidence numerous exhibits including daily feed sheets and individual bills. These exhibits were summarized by Exhibit # 5. The court found Exhibit # 5, along with its supporting evidence, “established that Jеnsen owed Sieh the amounts on Exhibit # 5.” Jensen offered no evidence to discredit Exhibit # 5. Finally, Jensen was unable to introduce any credible evidence of any claim against Sieh for “money loaned” or “insufficient funds on checks” after 2008, the year the parties agreed they were financially “even.” We conclude the court did not err in finding in favor of FEE on its assigned claim against Jensen.
VI
[¶ 27] We affirm the judgment of the district court.