law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, a default is the failure to do something required by law or to comply with a

contractual obligation ''Contractual Obligation'' is an EP by punk rock band the Humpers. It was their last recording for Sympathy for the Record Industry Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly indepe ...

. Legal obligations can arise when a response or appearance is required in legal proceedings, after taking out a

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

, or as agreed in a

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

; failure to carry them out puts one in defaults of the obligations. The concept of a "deliberate default" was considered in a UK legal case determined in 2010, '' De Beers UK Ltd. v Atos Origin It Services UK Ltd.'', where a contract had referred to this term. Edwards-Stuart J described "deliberate default" as meaning, in his view, Before the De Beers case there was little judicial guidance on the meaning of "deliberate default". The same term ("deliberate defaulters") has been used by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK to describe "people who deliberately get their tax affairs wrong".

Default in legal proceedings

Failure to appear at a required time in legal proceedings can constitute a default. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, for example, when a party has failed to file meaningful response to

pleading In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of a party's claims or defenses to another party's claims in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adjudi ...

s within the time allowed, with the result that only one side of a controversy has been presented to the court, the party who has pleaded a claim for relief and received no response may request entry of default. In some jurisdictions the court may proceed to enter judgment immediately: others require that the plaintiff file a notice of intent to take the default judgment and serve it on the unresponsive party. If this notice is not opposed, or no adequate justification for the delay or lack of response is presented, then the plaintiff is entitled to judgment in his favor. Such a judgment is referred to as a "

default judgment Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party. Most often, it is a judgment in favor of a plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear ...

" and, unless otherwise ordered, has the same effect as a judgment entered in a contested case. It is possible to

vacate A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. ...

or remove the

, depending on the particular

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

's law. Entry of default in the

United States district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

s is governed by Rule 55 of the

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (officially abbreviated Fed. R. Civ. P.; colloquially FRCP) govern civil procedure in United States district courts. The FRCP are promulgated by the United States Supreme Court pursuant to the Rules Enabling ...

Financial default

A common type of default is failure to meet the financial obligations of a

. This can occur due to inability to pay, or voluntarily in a

strategic default A strategic default is the decision by a borrower to stop making payments (i.e., to default) on a debt, despite having the financial ability to make the payments. This is particularly associated with residential and commercial mortgages, in which ...

. When the debtor is a government, it is called a

sovereign default A sovereign default is the failure or refusal of the government of a sovereign state to pay back its debt in full when due. Cessation of due payments (or receivables) may either be accompanied by that government's formal declaration that it wi ...

. A notice of default is a notification given to a

borrower A debtor or debitor is a legal entity (legal person) that owes a debt to another entity. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor. When the counterpart of this ...

stating that a

payment A payment is the voluntary tender of money or its equivalent or of things of value by one party (such as a person or company) to another in exchange for goods, or services provided by them, or to fulfill a legal obligation. The party making the p ...

has not been made by the predetermined deadline, or is otherwise in default on the mortgage contract. Other ways a borrower may be in default include not providing proper insurance coverage for the property, or not paying due property taxes as agreed. It dictates that if the money owed (plus an additional legal fee), or other breach(es) are not paid/remedied in a given time, the

lender A creditor or lender is a party (e.g., person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim on the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property ...

may choose to

foreclose Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

the borrower's property. Any other people who may be affected by the

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

may also receive a copy of the notification.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Default (Law) Civil procedure Legal terminology