Comment Number:	542930-00015
Received:	7/30/2009 5:31:53 PM
Organization:
Commenter:	Josh Shea
State:	KS
Agency:	Federal Trade Commission
Rule:	"Protecting Consumers in Debt Collection Litigation and Arbitration: A Roundtable Discussion" - August 5 and 6, 2009
Attachments:

---

Comments:

In over 4 and a half years as a collection attorney, I am yet to see a situation where state civil procedure laws have not protected defendants from unjust default judgments. I disagree with the premise that there's something "bad" or "wrong" with a default judgment. Generally, default judgments are granted in our collection cases when the defendant knows they owe the debt and simply choose not to bother going to court to tell a Judge that they owe the debt. Within that set of cases, most defendants will also contact our office after having been served with summons in order to make payment arrangements knowing on the impending default judgment. There is no problem with the current state of civil procedure with respect to default judgments.