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Originally Posted by Bouvier
COGNOVIT, contr. leading. A written confession of an action by a defendant, subscribed but not sealed, and authorizing the plaintiff to sign judgment and issue execution, usually for a sum named.
2. It is given after the action is brought to save expense.
3. It differs from a warrant of attorney, which is given before the commencement of any action, and is under seal. A cognovit actionem is an acknowledgment and confession of the plaintiff's cause of action against the defendant to be just and true. Vide 3 Ch. Pr. 664; 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 8299.
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Originally Posted by Blacks' 6th edition
Cognovit judgement: Confession of judgement by debtor. Written authority of debtor and his direction for entry of judgement against him in the event he shall default in payment. Such provision in a debt instrument or agreement permits the creditor or his attorney on default to appear in court and confers judgement against the debtor. [b] Such agreements are prohibited or greatly restricted in many states, though, where permitted, the constitutionality of each has been upheld.[b]
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A little background on this topic.
1. Evidently lenders seem to prefer to place this "confession of judgement" clause in home mortgages so that if you miss several payments you can be summarily booted from the premises without any sort of court action (otherwise known as due process).
2. Normal practice without this clause is for the holder of the title to bring an action in court to have the errant mortgage holder booted from the premises.
3. It is the title that would otherwise give the plaintiff standing to bring an action against the debtor.
4. Because of the inclusion of the "confession of judgement" clause no title need to be produced to have standing to bring the action against the debtor.
5. Because the title is no longer necessary for the debt action evidence might suggest that it can be bundled with other titles and sold to foreign countries (China).
6. Bundling the title in this fashion means that the original documents are no longer available to be produced.
7. If, as Black's suggests, the "confession of judgement" is not legal in many states quite possibly the contract signed by the debtor is void ab initio, as could be the selling of bundled mortgages to foreign entities.
Who ever heard of "warrant of attorney"? That topic sounds diabolic by itself.
