Confessions of Judgment (COJs) are recordable instruments in which a debtor acknowledges owing a debt and agrees that a judgment may be entered for that amount. Sometimes, when a debtor has no funds, he will agree to a judgment being entered with no contingencies. The more useful situation, from a creditor’s standpoint, is when the debtor wishes to make payments toward retiring the debt and is willing to sign a COJ that the creditor can hold as security. In other words, as long as payments are being made, the COJ is held by the creditor; if the debtor defaults in payment, the COJ is filed as a judgment, giving the debtor credit for any payments made against the amount of the judgment. It then becomes a lien against any real estate the debtor owns in the county where the COJ is filed.
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2014
About the Author:
Dick has been practicing commercial debt collection and real estate litigation law since 1981. He has represented clients in numerous jury and non-jury trials. He proudly lives and practices in Greenville, South Carolina.