If you’re being sued by a debt collector, the one thing you must do is file a written answer with the court before the deadline printed on your summons. Everything else, including defenses, negotiations, and challenges to the debt itself, flows from that single step. Skip it and the collector wins automatically: more than 70 percent of debt collection cases end in default judgments because the person sued never responded.1The Pew Charitable Trusts. How Debt Collectors Are Transforming the Business of State Courts Respond on time and you keep every option open.
Find the Deadline on Your Summons
You should have received two documents: a summons and a complaint. The summons tells you which court the case is in and how long you have to respond. The complaint tells you who is suing, how much they claim, and why. The response window varies by jurisdiction but usually falls between 20 and 30 days from the date you were served.
Write the deadline down. Work backward from it. If you plan to look for an attorney, start immediately, because 20 days disappears quickly once you factor in intake calls and document review. Call the clerk of the court listed on the summons to confirm the case number is real and properly filed. That call takes five minutes and rules out any concern about a fake lawsuit.
Make the Collector Prove the Debt
Federal law gives you the right to demand proof that the debt is real, that the amount is correct, and that the company suing you actually has the right to collect it. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector must send a written validation notice within five days of first contacting you, listing the amount and the creditor. If you dispute the debt in writing within 30 days of receiving that notice, the collector must stop collection activity until it sends verification.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 Section 1692g
A lawsuit filing by itself is not an “initial communication” for validation purposes, so you may have already received the notice earlier by mail. If you never got one, or if you’re still within 30 days of receiving it, send a written dispute by certified mail. Even after that 30-day window closes, you can still challenge the debt’s accuracy inside your answer. Validation just gives you an extra lever to force documentation before the case moves forward.
Look for Reasons the Case Shouldn’t Stand
Before you write the answer, read the complaint with a skeptical eye. Debt buyers who bought your account for pennies on the dollar often can’t back up what they filed.
Wrong Court
A debt collector can only sue you in the judicial district where you live or where you signed the original contract. Filing anywhere else violates federal law.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 Section 1692i Improper venue raised in your answer can get the case dismissed or transferred.
Expired Statute of Limitations
Every state sets a time limit on how long a creditor can wait before suing. For credit card and written contract debts, that window runs from 3 years in some states to 10 years in others. Once it expires, the debt still exists but the collector loses the right to sue on it. Collectors file on expired debts more often than you’d expect. Count from the date of your last payment or the date the account first became delinquent, and check your state’s specific limit.
The Collector Can’t Prove It Owns the Debt
If a debt buyer is suing you rather than the original creditor, it has to prove the chain of title: the paper trail showing each transfer of your account from the original creditor to the company now suing. Every transfer should be backed by an assignment or bill of sale that specifically identifies your account. Many debt buyers don’t have the paperwork. Challenging the chain forces them to produce it or lose.
Write and File Your Answer
Your response is called an “answer.” It’s not a letter to the judge explaining your situation. It’s a structured document that addresses each claim in the complaint and lists your defenses.
Respond to Each Numbered Paragraph
The complaint contains numbered paragraphs. Your answer must address each one with one of three responses: admit, deny, or state that you lack sufficient knowledge. Only admit something you’re certain is true. If you don’t know whether the debt buyer really purchased your account, or whether the balance is right, say you lack sufficient knowledge. That puts the burden on the collector to prove it.
List Every Affirmative Defense
After responding to the allegations, list your affirmative defenses. These are legal reasons the collector should lose even if the underlying debt is real. Common ones include:
- Expired statute of limitations: the collector waited too long to sue.
- Improper venue: the case was filed in the wrong court district.
- Lack of standing: the debt buyer can’t prove it owns the debt.
- Incorrect amount: the balance includes unauthorized charges, fees, or interest.
- FDCPA violations: the collector broke federal debt collection rules. You have one year from the violation to bring an FDCPA claim, and you can raise it as a counterclaim in the same lawsuit.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 Section 1692k
List every defense that could possibly apply. Skip one and try to raise it later, and the court may consider it waived.
File It and Serve It
File your answer with the court clerk before your deadline. Most courts accept filings in person, by mail, or through electronic filing. You’ll usually need the original and at least one copy. Filing fees range from under $50 to several hundred dollars depending on the jurisdiction. If you can’t afford the fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver application; courts routinely waive fees for low-income filers.
After filing, serve a copy on the collector’s attorney (or on the collector directly if no attorney is listed). Regular first-class mail is accepted in most jurisdictions, though certified mail creates a cleaner paper trail. Keep your court-stamped copy and your proof of service. Those documents are your evidence that you responded on time.
If You Already Missed the Deadline
If a default judgment has already been entered, you may still be able to get it overturned by filing a motion to vacate. Courts recognize that people miss deadlines for real reasons.
Under federal court rules, a judge can set aside a default judgment based on mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, or fraud by the opposing party. The motion must be filed within one year of the judgment for the first three grounds. A catch-all provision allows relief for “any other reason justifying relief” within a reasonable time. State courts have similar rules with their own deadlines.
To win a motion to vacate, courts generally want to see three things: that your failure to respond wasn’t deliberate, that overturning the judgment won’t unfairly prejudice the collector, and that you have a real defense to raise if the case reopens. If you were never properly served, the judgment may be void, which is an especially strong basis. Not understanding the papers or dealing with a medical crisis can qualify as excusable neglect.
Don’t wait. The longer a default judgment sits, the harder it becomes to undo.
What a Judgment Can and Can’t Reach
Once a collector has a judgment, it can garnish wages, freeze bank funds, and place a lien on property.5Federal Trade Commission. What To Do if a Debt Collector Sues You Judgments also accrue interest, which in many states adds several percentage points a year. But federal and state law put real limits on what a collector can actually take.
Wage Garnishment Caps
For ordinary consumer debts, federal law caps wage garnishment at the lesser of 25 percent of your disposable earnings or the amount by which your weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour as of 2026, making the threshold $217.50 per week). If you earn $217.50 or less per week in disposable income, your wages cannot be garnished at all.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 Section 1673 Disposable earnings are what’s left after legally required deductions like taxes, Social Security, and Medicare.7U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) Many states set lower limits, and a few prohibit garnishment for consumer debts entirely.
Social Security and Federal Benefits
Social Security benefits are broadly protected from private debt collectors. Federal law provides that Social Security payments cannot be subject to execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process brought by a private creditor.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 42 Section 407 The same protection covers Supplemental Security Income and Veterans Affairs benefits. Exceptions exist for federal tax debts and child support or alimony, not for credit card or medical debt.
Bank Account Lookback
If you receive federal benefits by direct deposit, your bank must automatically protect two months’ worth of those deposits when a garnishment order arrives. The bank reviews your account for benefit deposits during the prior two-month lookback period and keeps that amount fully accessible without any paperwork from you.9eCFR. 31 CFR Part 212 – Garnishment of Accounts Containing Federal Benefit Payments The bank also can’t charge a garnishment processing fee against those protected funds. Any money above the protected amount can still be frozen under the bank’s normal procedures.
Most states also exempt a portion of home equity, basic household goods, and retirement accounts from judgment collection, though the specifics vary widely.
What Happens After You File
Filing keeps you in the case. It doesn’t end it. Both sides move into a phase of preparing for a possible trial, and that phase creates several openings.
Discovery
Both parties can request information and documents. Send written questions asking the collector to identify the original creditor, produce the original signed agreement, and document every transfer of the account. Ask for account statements showing how the claimed balance was calculated. Debt buyers frequently can’t produce complete records, and this is where their case often falls apart.
Settlement
Many collectors would rather settle than go to trial. Once you’ve filed an answer and shown you’re willing to fight, the collector’s math changes. Offers on older debts or debts with documentation problems often come in well below the claimed balance. If you settle, insist on a written agreement stating the amount, the payment terms, and that the settlement resolves the debt in full. Don’t pay on a verbal promise.
Arbitration
If the original credit agreement contains an arbitration clause, you may be able to move the dispute out of court by filing a motion to compel arbitration. That pauses the lawsuit and sends the case to a private arbitrator. Because arbitration costs the collector money, many debt buyers walk away from small accounts rather than pay the fees. Check your original credit card or loan agreement before choosing this route.
Summary Judgment and Trial
Either side can ask the court to rule without a trial by filing a motion for summary judgment. If the collector can’t produce the original agreement or a clear chain of ownership, you can argue that summary judgment should go your way. If nothing resolves the case, it goes to trial and a judge decides.
Getting Help
You don’t need an attorney to file an answer, but legal help dramatically improves your odds. Many legal aid organizations represent low-income consumers in debt collection cases for free. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau keeps a directory of state legal aid programs, and local bar associations often run pro bono referrals.10Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Find a Lawyer To Help Me With a Creditor or Collector Trying To Collect a Debt From Me? Some consumer attorneys take FDCPA cases on contingency, collecting their fee from the debt collector rather than from you.
If you can’t find a lawyer, your local court’s self-help center can usually provide answer forms and basic guidance. What matters is filing something before the deadline. An imperfect answer filed on time is infinitely better than a perfect one that arrives a day late.