2026 Best MCA Defense Lawyers in Pennsylvania

Top MCA Defense Firms for Pennsylvania Businesses - 2026

Still Allow Confession of Judgment

Pennsylvania’s confession of judgment law sounds like an old movie about loan sharks and thugs with brass knuckles, but it’s still around. Pennsylvania is actually one of only nine states that still allow confession of judgment. If you signed a contract that lets a creditor get a judgment without suing you and without notice to you, the judgment is enforceable right away, even by garnishment or levy.

In one example of how it gets used, the owner of RCG Advances, Jonathan Braun, was permanently banned from the merchant cash advance industry in October 2023 by a federal court in a case brought by the FTC. The FTC alleged he used confessions of judgment to seize people’s business assets and even personal property.

A confession of judgment isn’t the same thing as a default judgment, which is what you get if you ignore a lawsuit. A default judgment may need notice and a hearing. But a confessed judgment is final the moment it’s entered. It comes with a lien and collection rights, just like any other judgment. Those rights can go on while your petition to strike or open the judgment is pending.

That means timing is everything. That judgment can be enforced against you until and unless you get that petition filed in court and get an order. You have to file the petition within 30 days after written notice is served on you. If you file late you have to show compelling reasons why you did. That means you have to explain how you missed the deadline and ask the court for mercy. And you have to put in every single defense you have in the petition or you lose that defense.

It’s really a trap. A creditor has no duty to tell you what your rights are and what happens next. Just filing your petition on time does not automatically open the judgment, and you may be stuck with paying the creditor’s attorney’s fees, interest, and collection costs if the contract says so.

Look at the Loan Agreement

The first thing a good lawyer is going to do is look at the loan agreement. If this is consumer credit for personal or family or household use, then it can’t have a confession of judgment at all. If you can show it was consumer credit, the judgment can be stricken as void. If the contract has a confession of judgment, you need to look to see if the warrant of attorney clause is clear and conspicuous. If it isn’t, any ambiguity goes against the creditor, not you.

Next your lawyer checks the creditor’s filing. The complaint has to attach your signed contract, the amount you owe, what you did to default, itemized damages, and a copy of the warrant of attorney you gave. Leave anything out and it can invalidate the judgment.

The creditor has to jump through a bunch of hoops here, and mistakes can be fatal. Have an attorney check to make sure the lawyer fees were right, and that the interest and any default penalties were mathed correctly, and whether they can show a real default at all. If there’s evidence that a jury could go either way, then the court has to open that judgment.

If you’re looking for sample cases, or trying to find something to grab onto, the one that sticks out like a sore thumb is Centric Bank v. Sciore, a 2025 Superior Court decision. Borrowers there tried the same consumer argument, and it failed just like you’d expect. The money was clearly commercial and not consumer so they didn’t stand a chance. And the COVID defense failed too because it had to prove legal impossibility and that wasn’t met.

In that same case, the court held that when the bank took money the borrower had sitting in an account and applied it against the loan balance, that was not a breach of good faith. And that the wife who claimed she was pressured into signing her guarantee had signed voluntarily, at her husband’s request. Specific facts are gold. You have to give specific facts if you want to have a chance.

Hire a Lawyer

The best place to start might be the Pennsylvania Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service, at 800-692-7375. Ask whether they’ve handled petitions to strike or open a confession of judgment. You need someone who really knows the ropes or you’re wasting your time.

If you’re going to hire a lawyer, do your homework first. You can check to see if they’re in good standing, and whether or not they’ve had any discipline actions against them by looking them up on the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s free online search. That’ll show you whether or not they’re licensed, where they work, and what discipline they’ve had. Disciplinary histories before 2003 may not be shown online, though.

If you hire a lawyer new to you, you have to know what you’re going to pay. Under rule 1.5(b) a lawyer new to you needs to put their fee basis or rate in writing, and must do it before or soon after any work begins; if it’s a contingent fee deal it must be in writing, with how the fee is figured and which expenses come out.

Even if your petition to strike fails, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed. The judgment could still be on the public records and show on credit reports, and be a lien against your real property in that county. That can make it hard to sell or refi your house. But that doesn’t mean it can’t still be paid or settled. And the creditor usually has to file a satisfaction to clear the lien.

So the best defense lawyer for you is the one who will check everything for you, go back and re-do the math, and work up all the facts to use in court to try to open that judgment.