Summary: Are you being sued by a bill collector for an old debt? Not sure how to respond? Here's a sample answer to a Summons for a credit card debt lawsuit. Your Answer should include a caption, responses, affirmative defenses, signature, and Certificate of Service. Use SoloSuit to draft and file yours.
When you've been sued over a credit card debt, the plaintiff usually hopes that you'll ignore the lawsuit. Unfortunately, ignoring the lawsuit means the court will pass a default judgment against you, awarding the plaintiff legal authority to pursue other debt collection methods such as wage garnishment to recover the amount you supposedly owe.
The worst part of a default judgment is that it usually awards the plaintiff authority to pursue the debt even if you don't owe the amount stated or the entire debt. By failing to respond to the Summons, the court assumes that you owe the indicated amount and grants the plaintiff permission to recover it within the state's legal parameters.
But how do you respond to such a lawsuit, especially if it's your first time? First things first, it's essential to understand the elements of an answer document.
Use standard format and style for your Answer
An answer document for a credit card lawsuit contains the following elements:
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Caption: The caption is the section at the top of the Answer document that lists the name of the Plaintiff (creditor or debt collector), name of the Defendant (you), court name, and case number.
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Responses: In this section of the Answer, you should respond to each allegation listed in the Complaint in numbered list. You should respond one of three ways—admit (like saying, this is true), deny (like saying, prove it), deny due to lack of knowledge (like saying, I don't know).
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Affirmative defenses: Here's where you can give your side of the case. Affirmative defenses are official reasons that the opposing party's case is invalid. For example, the debt might be past the statute of limitations, fraudulent, or an incorrect amount. These are some common affirmative defenses, but there are many.
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Date and signature: Your Answer will be rejected by the court if it doesn't have your signature on it. Be aware that some courts reject electronic signatures, and some even require a notarized signature.
- Certificate of Service: At the very of the Answer document, include a statement certifying that the Answer was sent to the court and plaintiff's attorney, with both addresses listed (the attorney's address should be noted on the Summons and Complaint documents).
This sample Answer can help you win your lawsuit
SoloSuit's Answer template contains each of the elements listed above. In fact, you can fill out your own Answer on SoloSuit's website in as little as 15 minutes. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and an autmomatic Answer will be genereated for you. Here's an example:
Use SoloSuit to respond to a debt collection lawsuit in 15 minutes.
Don't forget these things in your Answer to a debt lawsuit
It's important to note that the contents of the answer document vary depending on the response you opt for, but the format remains pretty much the same. When answering a Summons for a credit card debt lawsuit, you can either accept, deny the complaint, or accept in part.
Another thing you need to remember is that you need to state all your affirmative defenses in your answer document, even if some don't make sense. This is because once you've submitted the answer document, you can't use another affirmative defense if it wasn't initially listed in the answer document, even if you forgot to list it down earlier.
Besides knowing how to write an answer to a Summons for credit card debt, it's also important to find out the deadline for filing this document. Each state has its own deadline, which you must strictly adhere to or risk losing the lawsuit to the plaintiff.
Alternatively, you can use SoloSuit to file an attorney-approved answer within 15 minutes, saving you time and energy while guaranteeing peace of mind.
What is SoloSuit?
SoloSuit makes it easy to respond to a debt collection lawsuit.
How it works: SoloSuit is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your answer. Upon completion, you can either print the completed forms and mail in the hard copies to the courts or you can pay SoloSuit to file it for you and to have an attorney review the document.
>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit: A Student Solution To Give Utah Debtors A Fighting Chance