What are the Confessions of Judgment in the Credit Practices Rule?

In states that have not specifically outlawed the practice, certain consumer credit contracts have contained language taking away certain rights that consumers being sued would ordinarily have. The include the right to receive notice of the suit, to appear in court, and to raise any defenses that they may have. This provision, usually called a "confession of judgment," allowed judgment to be entered for the creditor automatically when the creditor sued the debtor for breach of the contract. The Rule now prohibits creditors from including confession of judgment provisions, such as the following, in consumer credit contracts:

To secure payment hereof, the undersigned jointly and severally irrevocably authorize any attorney of any court of record to appear for any one or more of them in such court in term or vacation, after default in payment hereof and confess a judgment without process in favor of the creditor hereof for such amount as may then appear unpaid hereon, to release all errors which may intervene in any such proceedings, and to consent to immediate execution upon such judgment, hereby ratifying every act of such attorney hereunder.

The Rule's prohibition against "confessions of judgment," however, does not prohibit power-of-attorney provisions that allow you to repossess and sell collateral, as long as these provisions do not interfere with the consumer's right to be heard in court. The Rule also does not prohibit a consumer from acknowledging liability after suit has been filed and the consumer has been duly notified. The Rule is not intended to interfere with whatever rights you have to repossess secured property.

 

For more information, see here:  https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-credit-practices-rule

 

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