If a debt collector has sued you, you (or your attorney) must first file an answer or proper response to the debt collection lawsuit to prevent the debt collector from obtaining a default judgment against you. Simply put, a “default judgment” means the debt collector wins its case by “default” and the court enters a judgment in favor of the plaintiff.

For a debt lawsuit in a justice court in Texas, the deadline to file an answer is by the end of the 14th day after the date you were served with the citation and the petition. You should file your written answer with the justice court and serve a copy of your answer on the plaintiff. Because of this short deadline to file an answer in a debt claim case in justice court, you should contact an attorney immediately so an answer or proper response can be filed in your case before the deadline.

To avoid a default judgment in a debt collection lawsuit filed in county court or district court, you must also file an answer or proper response with the court and serve a copy of your answer on the debt collector. The answer is generally due on or before 10 a.m. the first Monday next following the expiration of 20 days from the date of service.

It is important to make sure that a proper response or answer is filed in any debt collection lawsuit. For instance, if the statute of limitations has expired on the underlying debt, your attorney will need to list the “statute of limitations” as an affirmative defense in your answer. Once you have filed an answer, your attorney can then mount an aggressive defense, where appropriate, and try to win the lawsuit. You may even be able to fight back by filing a separate lawsuit against the debt collector for abusive debt collection under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and/or the Texas Debt Collection Act.

Lastly, unscrupulous debt collectors have been known to sue consumers and then accept “token” payments on the debt while secretly pursuing a “default judgment” against the consumer. Remember, that you should always file an answer any time you get sued by a debt collector. You should never let a debt collector get a “default” win and should never trust a debt collector who has sued you!

If a debt collector has sued you or a debt collector has been threatening to sue you for a consumer debt, please give us a telephone call today at 806.475.0150 for a free case evaluation.