## Facts

- Waterhouse sold goods to Levine under a contract providing for payment after a credit period.
- Waterhouse first sued Levine on the contract before the credit period expired.
- In the first action, judgment entered for Levine on the ground that the suit was premature because the debt was not yet due.
- After the credit period expired, Waterhouse filed a new action for goods sold and delivered seeking the contract price.
- The trial court found for Waterhouse and awarded $336.04.
- Levine claimed the earlier judgment barred the new suit and filed exceptions.

## Issues

1. Whether a prior judgment for the defendant based solely on the prematurity of the action (filed before the debt was due) bars a later action on the same contract after the claim has matured.
2. Whether, in an action for goods sold and delivered, the defendant may show under a general denial that the purchase was on credit that had not expired when the earlier action was brought.

## Decision

- The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts overruled Levine’s exceptions and left judgment for Waterhouse in place.
- The court held that the earlier judgment based on prematurity did not bar the later action once the credit period expired.
- The court recognized that the existence and timing of a credit term may be shown under a general denial in an action for goods sold and delivered.

## Legal Principles

- A judgment for the defendant because an action was brought prematurely is not a judgment on the merits and does not have claim-preclusive effect when the plaintiff later sues after the cause of action has matured.
- Dismissals or judgments resting on threshold defects that prevent reaching the merits do not preclude a later suit once the defect is cured.
- In an action for goods sold and delivered, the defendant may, under a general denial, introduce evidence that the obligation was not yet due because the sale was on unexpired credit.

## Conclusion

Because the first judgment determined only that Waterhouse sued before payment was due and did not resolve the substantive right to recover on the contract, it did not bar a later action after the credit period expired; Waterhouse could recover the matured debt.


Waterhouse v. Levine, 182 Mass. 407, 65 N.E. 822 (Mass. 1903)