Served with a Civil Summons or Complaint? Four Steps for Preparing Your Civil Answer
A counterclaim is a claim by the defendant against the plaintiff. If you are being sued, this is your opportunity to assert your own claims against the debt collector or other plaintiff. Some plaintiffs assert counterclaims for fraudulent collection practices. Many of our forms include easy-to-use templates to generate your counterclaim. This allows you to turn the tables against the Plaintiff!
More than 50,000 Americans from all 50 states have used our state-specific debt collection response forms to respond to debt collection complaints. All forms were prepared by experienced attorneys, in plain English and with easy-to-follow instructions. Download, fill in the blanks, and sign. On average, if you use one of our forms templates, you can finalize your debt collection answer form in 30 minutes or less.
Your Answer Form is your written response to the statements in the Complaint. You are the defendant (or in some localities, the "respondent"). In your Answer, you state if you admit, deny, or lack knowledge of each statement made by Plaintiff. Do not admit any statement unless you know it is 100% true! If you do not know if the account number listed is your credit card number or whether the amount Plaintiff says you owe is correct, deny the statement. If you do not understand what Plaintiff is saying, say you lack knowledge. By filing your answer form with the court on time, you preserve your rights to argue about this matter in court and to get notice of future hearings. You may feel embarrassed or guilty about being in debt. You may just want it all to be over. You should still file an Answer. It does not mean you are trying to avoid your debts. You may disagree with the amount Plaintiff asked for in the Complaint. You may want to preserve your right to get notice of future hearings. If you do not file an Answer, you may lose your chance to say how much you think you should pay. In addition, filing your Answer also gives you the opportunity to raise defenses based on the Debt Collector's procedural improprieties, which may include violations of the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. Many debt collectors make mistakes or engage in abusive conduct that can have the effect of preventing them from collecting debts. By answering a debt collection complaint, you preserve your legal rights, avoid a default judgment, and protect your credit standing. With our downloadable forms, we make this process easy, quick and affordable.
ALL OF OUR FORMS HAVE A N0-QUESTIONS-ASKED, MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. ORDER WITH CONFIDENCE.
Our answer forms have the affirmative defenses that you need to optimize the chance of winning the lawsuit. Some of these affirmative defenses include: