One of the benefits of being owed money under a promissory note (and, when applicable, a personal guaranty(ee)), in contrast to being owed money under an ordinary contract, is that the lender can qualify for an expedited procedure for collecting the debt under CPLR 3213. To qualify for CPLR 3213, the instrument that requires the borrower to pay the amount owed must be “for the payment of money only.”
In Marjan International Corporation v. Lillian August Designs Inc., Case No. 2021-04798, the court held that the language alone (in the promissory note and the personal guaranty(ee)) was dispositive and did not require further analysis to determine whether the note and personal guaranty(ee) satisfied the requirements for the expedited debt collection procedure allowed by CPLR 3213.
Thus, to mitigate lengthy disputes regarding whether a promissory note or personal guaranty(ee) satisfies the requirements of CPLR 3213, consider having the borrower/guarantor state the following: “[borrower/guarantor] acknowledges and agrees that this Note [Personal Guaranty(ee)] is an instrument for the payment of money only within the meaning of the CPLR 3213 and [borrower/guarantor] expressly waives any right (and hereby agrees not) to assert that this Note [Personal Guaranty(ee)] is not such an instrument.”