In short
Two articles govern the moment when a party may stop without breaching. The first is the defence of non-performance: in contracts with reciprocal performances, one party may refuse their performance while the other does not perform their counter-performance or offer to perform it. It has a clear limit: the exception does not lie if the counter-performance owed by the claimant must be performed after the performance incumbent on the party raising it; that is, whoever goes first in the agreed order cannot hide behind the other not yet having done their part. And it has a proportional variant: if the counter-performance is performed partially or defectively, the party raising the exception may reduce their performance in proportion to what the claimant still owes. The second article allows suspending performance even before there is a breach: if the other party is temporarily unable to perform, even for causes not imputable to them, or if it is foreseeable they will not perform, having suffered a significant impairment in their capacity to perform. That suspension ceases to have effect when the debtor of the correlative performance performs or gives sufficient assurances of performance, and it must be communicated immediately to the other party.
What is it?
They are Articles 1253 and 1254 of Chapter VI of Title I of Book Five of the Civil Code of 2020. They are the two tools a party has to not perform yet without themselves being at fault: the defence of non-performance and preventive suspension.
Who can do it?
Any party to a contract with reciprocal performances. The exception does not lie if your performance comes first under what was agreed.
Requirements
- That the contract be one with reciprocal performances: the condition that opens both articles.Verified against the official source
- That the other side’s counter-performance not be due after yours: if it comes after, the exception does not lie.Verified against the official source
- To suspend, that the other party be temporarily unable, or that it be foreseeable they will not perform owing to a significant impairment in their capacity to perform.Verified against the official source
- Communicating the suspension immediately to the other party: Article 1254 requires it.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: The rule, exactly as printed
Article 1253 says: "En los contratos con prestaciones recíprocas, una las partes puede rehusar su cumplimiento mientras la otra no cumpla su contraprestación u ofrezca cumplirla." We quote it as published — the consolidated text is missing a preposition in "una las partes" — because we do not silently repair the text of the statute. The meaning is not in doubt: whoever has not received their side may hold back what they owe.
Step 2: Offering to perform is already enough
Note the article’s two alternatives: while the other does not perform their counter-performance or offer to perform it. A serious offer to perform switches the exception off; the other party need not have finished.
Step 3: If your turn comes first, it does not lie
The second paragraph excludes it: the exception does not lie if the counter-performance owed by the claimant must be performed after the performance incumbent on the party raising it. Whoever agreed to pay in advance cannot plead that they have not been delivered yet.
Step 4: If they half-performed, you reduce proportionally
The third paragraph avoids all-or-nothing: if the counter-performance is performed partially or defectively, the party raising the exception may reduce their performance in proportion to what the claimant still owes. It is not withholding everything: it is withholding the proportional part.
Step 5: Suspending before they breach
Article 1254 allows getting ahead in two cases. If the other party is temporarily unable to perform, even for causes not imputable to them. Or if it is foreseeable the other party will not perform, having suffered a significant impairment in their capacity to perform. In the first case their fault is not even required.
Step 6: The suspension falls with assurances
The same article limits it: the suspension ceases to have effect when the debtor of the correlative performance performs or gives sufficient assurances of performance. They need not perform yet; assuring performance is enough.
Step 7: And it must be announced immediately
The last sentence of Article 1254 is a duty, not a recommendation: the suspension must be communicated immediately to the other party. Suspending in silence leaves them not knowing why everything stopped, and with no chance to give those assurances.
Where to do it
The exception and the suspension are exercised against the other party, with no counter and no prior permission. If the matter reaches court, the exception is raised before the Court of First Instance; how it is pleaded is governed by the Rules of Civil Procedure, which we did not read here.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If what you want is to end the contract and not merely hold back your side, that is rescission and it has its own guide, with six requirements to meet. If your question is from when the other side is late, see the guide on delay: rescission requires them to be in delay, the exception does not. If the breach already cost you, the guide on indemnity for breach says what is claimed. This guide does not explain the procedural rules for pleading the exception in a case: we did not read them. The Code publishes no fee and no term for these articles. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Using the exception in a contract that is not one of reciprocal performances.
- Withholding everything where the other side partly performed: the reduction is proportional to what they still owe.
- Raising the exception where your performance comes first under what was agreed.
- Ignoring that a serious offer to perform by the other side switches the exception off.
- Suspending performance and not communicating it immediately to the other party.
- Keeping the suspension after the other side gave sufficient assurances of performance.
- Believing the other side’s fault is needed to suspend: temporary inability counts even if not imputable to them.
- Confusing withholding your performance with treating the contract as rescinded: they are different, and the second has its own requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Can I stop paying if the other side does not perform?
In a contract with reciprocal performances, you may refuse to perform while the other party neither performs their counter-performance nor offers to. It does not lie if yours comes first under what was agreed.
They half-performed — must I pay everything?
No. Article 1253 lets you reduce your performance in proportion to what the other still owes where their counter-performance is performed partially or defectively.
Can I stop if I see the other side will not be able to perform?
Article 1254 allows it if it is foreseeable they will not perform, having suffered a significant impairment in their capacity to perform, or if they are temporarily unable even without fault. The suspension must be communicated immediately.
When must I resume?
When the debtor of the correlative performance performs or gives sufficient assurances of performance: at that point the suspension ceases to have effect.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico
Poder Judicial
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 8, 2026
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