Contracts: liquidated damages.

Existing law establishes the general presumption that a contractual provision liquidating the damages for the breach of a contract is valid unless the party seeking to invalidate the provision establishes that the provision was unreasonable under the circumstances existing at the time the contract was made. Existing law excepts from the presumption certain contracts, including those for damages that are to be recovered from a party to a lease of a dwelling. This bill would require a court, in entering a judgment pursuant to a written settlement agreement between a creditor and a debtor, to consider the amounts sought in the litigation in determining the reasonableness of the amounts sought pursuant to the settlement agreement. The bill would also require a party seeking to enforce a settlement agreement to comply with specified evidentiary requirements.