Get the judgment papers
Pull the full COJ, affidavit of default, and judgment as entered. Without these, no one can evaluate vacatur grounds.
Confession of Judgment Specialists
Vacate the COJ. Lift the freeze. Save the business.
A Confession of Judgment lets a funder obtain a court judgment against you without notice and freeze your bank accounts the same day. If one has been filed, you may have hours, not weeks. Our team moves on day one, files the motion to vacate, defends the freeze, and negotiates the underlying debt while we do.
Time-sensitive
COJs trigger same-day account freezes, we move fast
80%+
COJ vacate rate (statute & service defects)
NY · NJ
Primary jurisdictions; nationwide network
Bundled
When you hire us and an attorney becomes necessary, we pay the costs*
The problem
When the funder pulls the trigger, days matter.
A Confession of Judgment is a clause embedded in many merchant cash advance contracts that lets the funder file a judgment in court without prior notice or a hearing once they declare default. New York amended the rules in 2019 to limit out-of-state usage, but pre-2019 COJs and properly-filed in-state COJs are still being entered every day. The first sign for most borrowers is a frozen operating account.
From the moment a COJ enters, the funder can serve restraining notices on every bank where you hold accounts, every payment processor that touches your receivables, and every customer who owes you money. Your business can be operationally dead within 48 hours of filing, which is exactly why we move on day one of intake, not day ten.
The motion to vacate is the legal lever. It asks the court to undo the entered judgment based on procedural defects, statutory violations, post-2019 NY restrictions, fundamental flaws in the underlying contract, or fraudulent inducement. When the motion succeeds, the freeze lifts and you go back to negotiating the underlying debt from leverage instead of desperation.
What we handle
3 scenarios, opened up
01
Funder filed a pre-2019 confession in NY against an out-of-state borrower. Bank accounts restrained.
How we run it
- 01Pull the file: judgment, affidavit, underlying contract
- 02Verify CPLR § 3218 statutory compliance
- 03File order to show cause + motion to vacate
- 04Argue at hearing; lift restraining notices
Typical outcome
Vacated; freeze lifted; negotiation resumes
02
Properly venued. Defects must come from the contract, the affidavit, or the service.
How we run it
- 01Audit affidavit jurat & notarization
- 02Audit underlying MCA for usury exposure
- 03Negotiate carve-out before motion if leverage exists
- 04File motion if negotiation fails
Typical outcome
Vacate, settle, or stipulate to a workable plan
03
Stacked-position borrower with confessions in multiple jurisdictions.
How we run it
- 01Map every filing across courts
- 02Triage by enforcement urgency, then statute
- 03Coordinate motions to maximize leverage
- 04Negotiate global resolution
Typical outcome
All restraints lifted; consolidated workout
“
From the desk
Most COJs are filed sloppily. The funders count on borrowers being too scared to fight. We change that math.
Steven M. Raiser, Esq. · Founding Partner & Chief Legal Officer
Our process
From same-day intake
to closeout
Every case is different. We move on day one because deadlines don't wait, and we give you a written, case-specific plan at intake.
01
Pull the docketed judgment, the affidavit, and the underlying contract. Identify the filing court and venue rules.
Judgment · Affidavit · Contract
02
Draft the order to show cause and motion to vacate based on the statutory, procedural, and contractual defects we found.
OSC · Motion · Stay request
03
Argued by licensed counsel from our network in your jurisdiction. We support with full record review and exhibits prepared during the intake-to-filing window.
Hearing · Oral argument
04
Vacate, stipulate to a workable plan, or pivot to settlement leverage with the freeze removed and the funder on notice.
Vacate · Stipulation · Settle
Where we work
COJ Defense cases in all 50 states
FAQ
Common questions
What is a Confession of Judgment?
A clause in many merchant cash advance contracts that lets the funder obtain a court judgment against you without prior notice or a hearing once they declare default. New York amended its COJ rules in 2019 to limit out-of-state usage. A filed COJ can result in immediate enforcement, including bank-account restraints.
Has a COJ already been filed against me?
You will typically learn about a filed COJ when your bank notifies you of a restraining notice on your operating account, when a payment processor receives a levy, or when a marshal serves you. If you suspect one has been filed, time is critical, call right away.
Can a COJ actually be vacated?
Yes. Many COJs entered before the 2019 NY amendments are vulnerable to vacatur for jurisdictional reasons. Properly-filed COJs may still be vacated for procedural defects in the affidavit, statutory non-compliance, or fundamental flaws in the underlying contract. Outcomes depend on the specific filing, we tell you a realistic read at intake.
What's the timeline once I engage you?
Intake happens promptly given the time-sensitive nature of COJ matters. Motions to vacate are drafted on a case-specific schedule. Court hearings are scheduled by the court calendar, not by us. We give you a written, case-specific plan at intake, never a marketing promise about hearing dates or restraining-notice timing.
What happens to the underlying debt if the COJ is vacated?
Vacating the judgment doesn't eliminate the underlying debt, it just removes the funder's enforcement lever. With the restraining notices lifted, you negotiate the debt itself from leverage instead of desperation. Most cases at this stage end in a structured settlement at a fraction of the original demand.
Is Delancey a law firm?
Delancey Street is not a law firm. We coordinate with a network of independent counsel who represent you directly when the case requires legal work. The attorney-client relationship is between you and the attorney. When you hire us and an attorney becomes necessary, we pay the costs, choose from our network of attorneys or any attorney of your choice, subject to terms and conditions.
Get in touch
Talk to a strategist about your coj defense case
Free initial review. We'll look at your contracts, the creditor mix, and what's actually triggerable in the next 30 days. No commitment, no sales pitch, just a real read on your situation.
Direct line
212-210-1851
Picked up by a case manager, no phone tree.
Email
info@delanceystreet.com
Replies within 4 business hours.
Send us a message
Tell us what's happening.
COJ filed? Account frozen? Let's talk today.
1,000+ businesses settled. $100M+ in debt resolved. We can help yours, too.
Deep dive
Confession of Judgment, what it is and what to do next
A Confession of Judgment is something many MCA lenders use, and abuse, to put your business in a difficult position if you default on your MCA. When a COJ is filed, you will likely need someone who is an attorney, or a firm with attorneys leading the work, who challenges, vacates, or negotiates around judgments filed against you.
If a COJ was just filed against you
You have less time than you think, and most of the leverage you have expires inside the first 30 days.
What a Confession of Judgment actually is
A COJ is a document that you signed at funding, usually buried in the MCA agreement, and the clause authorizes the funder to walk into a court and have a judgment entered against you the moment a default is declared. If this approach is taken by the MCA lender, there is no summons, no summons and complaint, nothing, just an outcome.
The MCA lender will file an affidavit of default, the clerk enters judgment, and within hours:
- Your business and personal bank accounts can be restrained
- Receivables can be levied by the lender
- Marshals or sheriffs can be dispatched to your place of business
- The judgment can be domesticated in other states
Most business owners typically learn about the judgment when their bank account freezes. This is not a hypothetical story. It's the standard MCA playbook for any funder still using New York COJs, and it's the reason "Confession of Judgment specialist" is a search term that exists at all. Bloomberg's "Sign Here to Lose Everything" investigation documented more than 25,000 of these judgments worth roughly $1.5 billion, and a follow-up exposed the rubber-stamp court clerks who waved them through.
The 2019 New York amendment changed the game (but didn't end it)
In 2019, changes were made by New York in order to prevent predatory lenders from abusing the COJ. Many lenders were domiciled in New York but using the COJ against clients nationwide. In August 2019, New York amended CPLR § 3218 (S6395) to require that a COJ filed in New York be signed by a defendant who resides in New York at the time of signing. Before that amendment, the entire MCA industry was funneling judgments through New York courts against merchants in all 50 states, because New York's COJ procedure was the fastest and most creditor-friendly in the country. Other states have since followed, including Texas HB 700, which voids COJ clauses in MCA and sales-based-financing contracts.
What the amendment did
- Stopped new COJs in New York against out-of-state merchants
- Forced funders to migrate filings to the next-most-permissive jurisdictions
What it didn't do
- Did not invalidate pre-2019 COJs already on file
- Did not stop funders from migrating to other states (Pennsylvania and Maryland became common new venues)
- Did not stop funders from including COJ language in current contracts and filing them in whichever state will still take them
If a COJ was just entered against you, the 7-day checklist
In order. Each step preserves leverage that disappears if you skip it.
Pull every funding document
Original agreement, every amendment, every stack agreement, every reconciliation request and response.
Document the alleged default
Bank statements, communications with the funder, ACH return notices, any reconciliation request that was ignored.
Identify exposed accounts and receivables
Restraint can hit anything in the merchant's name in that state, every bank account, every processor, every customer who owes you money.
Identify the personal guarantor's exposure
Home, vehicles, personal accounts. The guarantor is on the hook the moment the judgment is entered.
Don't talk to the funder's collection counsel without representation
Anything said becomes evidence. Route every communication through counsel from this point on.
Engage counsel within the first week
Vacatur deadlines, domestication deadlines, and restraint release windows all start running immediately.
Time-sensitive
COJ filed? Account frozen?
Same-day intake with a senior advisor. Motion to vacate filed within the first 72 hours when the math supports it.