Chap. 298.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to regulate
the confession of judgment in the office of the clerk of any court of record
in the Commonwealth of Virginia and to prescribe the procedure thereon,
approved March 27, 1922, as heretofore amended. [H B 73]

Approved March 29, 1934

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act to regulate the confession of i1doemente in the affice af

the clerk of any court of record in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and
to prescribe the procedure thereon, approved March twenty-seventh,
nineteen hundred and twenty-two, as heretofore amended, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 1. Any person being indebted to smother person, may at
any time confess judgment in the clerk’s office of any court of record
in this Commonwealth, whether a suit, motion or action be pending
therefor or not, for only such principal and interest as his creditor may
be willing to accept a judgment for, which judgment, when so con-
fessed, shall be forthwith entered of record by the clerk in whose office
it is confessed, in the proper order book of his court, and shall be as final
and as binding as though confessed in open court or rendered by the
court, subject to the control of the court in which rendered, and may be
set aside or reduced upon motion of the judgment debtor made at the
next term of court following notice to him that such judgment had been
entered against him, and after ten days’ notice to the judgment creditor,
on any grounds which would have been an adequate defense or set-off
in an action at law instituted upon the judgment creditor’s note, bond
or other evidence of debt upon which such judgment was confessed.

Section 2. The clerk shall enter on the margin of the record of
such judgment, the day and hour when the same was confessed and the
lien thereof shall attach and be binding from the time of such confession
so entered.

Section 3. Such confession of judgment may be made either by the
debtor himself or by his duly constituted attorney in fact, acting under
and by virtue of a warrant duly executed and acknowledged by him as
deeds are required to be acknowledged, before anv officer or person
authorized to take acknowledgments of writings to be recorded in Vir-
ginia; provided, however, that any warrant incorporated in, and made
part of any note or bond authorizing the confession of judgment there-
on against the makers and endorsers. in the event of default in the pay-
ment thereof at maturity, need not be acknowledged, but shall specifi-
cally name therein, the attorney or attorneys, or other person or persons
authorized to confess such judgment and the clerk’s office in which the
judgment is to be confessed.

Section 4. On the presentation of any such warrant as is mentioned
in section three hereof, by either of the persons therein named as attor-
ney in fact, or upon whom the personal appearance of the debtor or debt-
ors and the expression by him or them of his or their desire to confess
such judgment, the clerk of the court mentioned in such warrant, or
before whom such debtor or debtors shall so appear, shall draw and
require the said attorney in fact so appearing, or the debtor or debtors,
as the case may be, to sign a confession of judgment, which shall be
in form substantially as follows:

“Virginia: In the clerk’s office of the ................ court of the...............
0) re I, (or we) A. B., (or A. B. and C. D., et cetera) hereby
acknowledge myself (or ourselves) to be justly indebted to, and do here-
by confess judgment in favor of (name of creditor) in the sum of
eee dollars ($................) with interest thereon from the............
day of...22..222-22---- , nineteen hundred and ................ , until paid, and the
costs of this proceeding (including the attorney’s fees and collection fees
provided for in the instrument on which the proceeding is based), here-
by waiving the benefit of my (or our) homestead exemptions as to the
same, provided the instrument on which the proceeding is based car-
ries such homestead waiver.

Given under my (or our) hand, this... day of... ,
nineteen hundred and .......020000202teeee.

(Signatures )

or, if by an attorney in fact, signatures and seals of debtors,

his (or their) attorney in fact.

Section 5. When a judgment is so confessed, the clerk shall en-

dorse upon such confession, or attach thereto, his certificate in manner
and form substantially as follows:

Virginia: In the clerk’s office of the...................- court of the__..............

The foregoing (or attached) judgment was duly confessed before
me in my said office on the........0........... day of... eee , nineteen hun-
dred and... | o’clock.....2....... _meridian, and
has been duly entered of record in common law order book number

oeeeceeceeeeeceeeeteceseeeseeeeee , Clerk.”

If a judgment is confessed by an attorney in fact, it shall be the duty
of the clerk within ten days from the entry thereof, to cause to be served
upon the judgment debtor or debtors a certified copy of the order so en-
tered in the common law order book, and the officer who serves the
same shall make return thereof within ten days after such service, to
the clerk who shall promptly file the same with the papers in the case,
and note in the judgment lien docket when the judgment is docketed, the
date of such service and return, and if the same be not returned “exe-
cuted” within sixty days after the date of entry of such judgment, he
shall note such fact at the appropriate place in the judgment lien docket.
The failure to serve a copy of such order within sixty days from the
date of entry thereof shall render such judgment void as to any debtor
not so served.

Section 6. The said confession and clerk’s certificate, together with
the warrant if the confession be by an attorney in fact, and the note,
bond or other obligation, if there be such, on which the judgment is
based, shall be securely attached together by the clerk and filed by him
among the records in his office.

Section 7. The clerk shall forthwith docket such judgment in the
current judgment lien docket in his office and shall issue execution
thereon as he may be directed by the creditor therein named, or his as-
signs, in the manner prescribed by law.
Section 8. The following fees and costs, and no other, shall be
taxed by the clerk as and for the costs of such proceeding:

The statutory writ tax................------- dollars.........--2---2:-------

For the clerk for drawing confession of judgment, fifty cents ;

For the clerk for certificate as to confession, twenty-five cents ;

For the clerk for entering judgment in order book, fifty cents ;

For the clerk for noting time of confession on margin of order book,
twenty-five cents ;

For the clerk for filing all papers, fifty cents ;

For the clerk for each copy of the order to be served on the judg-
ment debtors, twenty-five cents ;

For the sheriff for serving each copy of the order entering judg-
ment, fifty cents;

For the clerk for docketing the judgment and issuing executions
thereon, the same fees allowed by law for docketing judgments ren-
dered in court and issuing executions thereon.

Section 9. No judgment hereafter confessed in the office of the
clerk of any court of record in this Commonwealth, by virtue of a war-
rant, or power of attorney, shall be valid, unless such warrant, or power
of attorney be in conformity with the provisions of this act.

Section 10. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act, are
hereby repealed, and the act approved March twenty-third, nineteen
hundred and twenty-two, entitled an act requiring every power of at-
torney to confess judgment, to be signed and acknowledged before
some officer authorized to take acknowledgments to deeds, is hereby ex-
pressly repealed.