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party who owes money or duties is notified or shown such a writtenassignment, then that party is legally bound to pay or render services tothe assignee only; payment to the assignor will not discharge the debt.Example 2. Nathan Ecker, who rents out two rooms of his house,is moving temporarily to another state. To make sure rent is collectedduring his absence, Nathan assigns one tenant, RichardTaft, the duty to collect the $700 rent from Jerry Golden, theother tenant. He also gives Jerry a note asking him to pay Richardhis monthly rent. Richard then has the right to receive the $700from Jerry. However, if Nathan merely told Richard to collectrent, Jerry would not know this was actually the case.What Rights May Be AssignedMost rights may be assigned unless the assignment changes theobligations of the other party to the contract in an important way. InExample 1, when Anthony assigned the right to receive the $1,800 to hislandlord, Cathy’s obligation to pay the money did not change. Theassignment was valid. However, not all assignments are valid.Example 3. Cathy Michaud decided, after contracting for the stepreplacement with Anthony Cuomo, that the steps at the home ofBreach of ContractA telecommunications company recently cut off service to two Internetservice providers and their customers. These providers were under contract tomake payments for their telecommunications service. When millions of dollarsin bills became past due, the telecommunications company treated the lack ofpayment as a breach of contract. As a result, they cut off service. One of theInternet service providers accused the telecommunications company of shuttingoff service in an effort to steal its customers. If true, this would also be a breachof contract. (Source: New York Times, February 16, 2001, p. C3)Connect Find out which Internet service providers are in your area and whichtelecommunications companies support their service. Research any legal optionsthat you may have if your service were to be cut off prior to the end of yourservice contract.Chapter 12: Transfer of Contracts and Remedies for Breach 243