How to Answer a Debt Collection Summons in All 50 States
You must respond to a debt collection lawsuit by filing an Answer before your state's deadline. Each state has specific requirements for response timeframes, typically ranging from 14 to 35 days. Filing a proper Answer that responds to each allegation, asserts your affirmative defenses, and gets submitted to the court and opposing counsel is essential to protecting yourself from default judgment and wage garnishment.
Answer Your LawsuitYou have been sued for debt. You need to fight back.
Winning your debt collection lawsuit starts with filing the right Answer. You can protect your wages from garnishment and avoid paying money you don’t owe.
Don't Let the Deadline Pass—Respond to Your Lawsuit Now
You have limited time to respond to your debt collection summons before facing default judgment. Our partner Solo walks you through every question and files your Answer correctly in just 15 minutes.
Respond in 15 MinutesDebt collection laws vary by state. We’ve compiled everything you need in one place. No more crawling through confusing court websites looking for forms and deadlines.
What You Need to Know About Your State
For each state, we provide critical information:
- Deadline to file your Answer to the summons and complaint
- Official Answer forms available in your state
- Court case search tools to check your case status
- Attorney lookup tools to find opposing counsel contact information
Some states don’t have official forms. We’ve linked other helpful resources where available.
You can handle all of this yourself with our partner Solo.
Generate Your Answer in Minutes
Our partner Solo makes responding to debt lawsuits simple.
The process is straightforward. You answer questions through a step-by-step web application. The system generates your completed Answer document. You can print and mail the forms yourself. Or you can have Solo file everything for you and get an attorney review.
Three Steps to Respond to a Debt Lawsuit
A debt lawsuit starts when you receive a Summons and Complaint. The Summons notifies you of the lawsuit. The Complaint explains why you’re being sued.
Some states use different names for these documents. Texas calls them a Citation and Petition. The concept remains the same.
You need to take three critical steps to respond properly.
Step 1: Respond to Every Paragraph in the Complaint
The Complaint contains numbered paragraphs outlining the case against you. Most debt collection cases include 10 to 30 numbered paragraphs.
Read each paragraph carefully. You must respond in one of three ways:
- Admit: Use this if you agree with everything stated
- Deny: Use this to force the debt collector to prove the allegation
- Lack of knowledge: Use this if you don’t understand the paragraph or lack information to respond
Write your chosen response in your Answer after the corresponding paragraph number.
Many attorneys recommend denying everything. You force the collector to prove every claim. This strategy works well in most cases.
Step 2: Assert Your Affirmative Defenses
An affirmative defense explains why the lawsuit against you should fail. You must list these defenses in your Answer now. You cannot bring them up later if you forget them.
Missing this step eliminates your defenses permanently. Most online forms ignore affirmative defenses. Our partner Solo helps you identify and assert them.
Common defenses include:
- The account doesn’t belong to you
- The contract was already canceled
- The statute of limitations has expired
- The debt has been paid or forgiven
- The debt has been partially paid
- You were a co-signer but weren’t informed of your rights
These represent just a few possible defenses. Being unable to pay is not typically a legal defense.
Step 3: File Your Answer with the Court and Plaintiff
Creating your Answer means nothing if you don’t file it correctly. Filing properly is like turning in homework. Skip this step and you lose automatically.
Our partner Solo handles filing for you. No printer needed. No confusion at the Post Office.
To file yourself, follow these steps:
- Print two copies of your Answer
- Mail one copy to the court
- Mail the other copy to the plaintiff’s attorney
The attorney’s address appears in your Summons and Complaint. Finding the court’s mailing address is trickier. The Summons usually omits this information. The mailing address often differs from the physical address on Google.
State-by-State Guide to Answering a Debt Collection Summons
Below you’ll find specific requirements for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Alabama
Answer deadline:
- Small Claims Court: 14 days
- District Court: 14 days
- Circuit Court: 30 days
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Alaska
Answer deadline: 20 days
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Arizona
Answer deadline:
- 20 days if served in Arizona
- 30 days if served outside Arizona
Most Arizona courts charge an Answer filing fee ranging from $40 to $245. Our partner Solo calculates and pays this fee for you.
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Arkansas
Answer deadline: 30 days
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California
Answer deadline:
- 30 days standard
- 40 days if documents were served on someone else in your household or mailed to you
California courts charge an Answer filing fee ranging from $181 to $450. Our partner Solo handles fee calculation and payment. You may qualify for a fee waiver.
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Colorado
Answer deadline: 21 days
Colorado courts charge an Answer filing fee ranging from $80 to $192. Our partner Solo calculates and processes payment.
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Connecticut
Answer deadline: 30 days from the return date
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Delaware
Answer deadline: 20 days
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District of Columbia
Answer deadline: 21 days
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Florida
Answer deadline: 20 days
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Georgia
Answer deadline: 30 days
Most Georgia courts require e-filing with fees ranging from $7.20 to $31.50. Our partner Solo handles fee payment.
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Hawaii
Answer deadline: 20 days
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Idaho
Answer deadline: 20 days
Some Idaho courts charge a $136 Answer filing fee. Our partner Solo processes payment.
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Illinois
Answer deadline: Appear in court, then 10 days to file Answer
Illinois courts charge an appearance fee ranging from $119 to $378. Our partner Solo calculates and pays the fee. You may qualify for a waiver.
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Indiana
Answer deadline: 20 days (with exceptions)
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Iowa
Answer deadline: Check local court rules
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Kansas
Answer deadline: 21 days
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Kentucky
Answer deadline: 20 days
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Louisiana
Answer deadline: 15 days
Most Louisiana courts charge an Answer filing fee ranging from $10 to $250. Our partner Solo handles payment. You may qualify for a fee waiver.
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Maine
Answer deadline: 20 days
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Maryland
Answer deadline:
- 30 days if served in Maryland
- 60 days if served in another state
- 90 days if served outside the United States
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Massachusetts
Answer deadline: 20 days
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Michigan
Answer deadline: 21 days
No filing fee in Michigan.
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Minnesota
Answer deadline: 20 days
Minnesota courts charge an Answer filing fee ranging from $285 to $297. Our partner Solo handles payment. You may qualify for a fee waiver.
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Mississippi
Answer deadline: 30 days
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Missouri
Answer deadline: 30 days
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Montana
Answer deadline: 21 days
Montana courts sometimes charge filing fees ranging from $20 to $70. Our partner Solo handles payment.
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Nebraska
Answer deadline: 30 days
Beginning in 2022, some or all Nebraska courts require mandatory e-filing.
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Nevada
Answer deadline: 20 days
Nevada courts charge an Answer filing fee ranging from $80 to $192. Our partner Solo calculates and processes payment.
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New Hampshire
Answer deadline: 30 days
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New Jersey
Answer deadline: 35 days
New Jersey courts charge an Answer filing fee ranging from $30 to $175. Our partner Solo processes payment.
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New Mexico
Answer deadline: 30 days
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New York
Answer deadline:
- 20 days if served personally
- 30 days if served any other way
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North Carolina
Answer deadline: 30 days
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North Dakota
Answer deadline:
- 20 days (small claims)
- 21 days (civil)
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Ohio
Answer deadline: 28 days (with exceptions)
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Oklahoma
Answer deadline: 20 days
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Oregon
Answer deadline:
- 30 days (standard)
- 14 days (small claims court)
Oregon courts charge an Answer filing fee ranging from $170 to $283. Our partner Solo handles payment. You may qualify for a fee waiver.
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Pennsylvania
Answer deadline: 20 days (if you don’t respond, the plaintiff must send a 10-day notice before requesting default judgment)
Some Pennsylvania courts charge a $154.54 Answer filing fee. Our partner Solo processes payment.
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Rhode Island
Answer deadline: 20 days
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South Carolina
Answer deadline: 30 days
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South Dakota
Answer deadline: 30 days
South Dakota courts charge a $25 filing fee in most cases. Our partner Solo handles payment.
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Tennessee
Answer deadline:
- State Court: 30 days
- Federal Court: 20 days
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Texas
Answer deadline: Generally 20 days plus until the following Monday at 10 AM. Count all calendar days including weekends and holidays.
No filing fee in Texas.
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Utah
Answer deadline:
- 21 days if served in Utah
- 30 days if served outside Utah
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Vermont
Answer deadline: 30 days from the date the Complaint was mailed
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Virginia
Answer deadline: 21 days
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Washington
Answer deadline: 20 days
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West Virginia
Answer deadline: 21 days
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Wisconsin
Answer deadline: 20 days (45 days for some torts)
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Wyoming
Answer deadline:
- 20 days if served in the state
- 30 days if served outside the state
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Understanding Answer Filing Fees
Some state courts charge a filing fee to submit your Answer. We find this practice absurd. Filing fees create one of the biggest barriers to justice in America.
States that charge Answer filing fees include Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota. Fees range from $7 to $450.
Our partner Solo automatically calculates your filing fee. Payment processing is simple. The fee gets to your court correctly.
You may qualify for a fee waiver in some states. Fee waivers reduce your cost to zero.
What Happens After You File Your Answer
Filing your Answer is just the beginning. Several outcomes become possible after you respond to the lawsuit.
The collector may give up and file a Motion to Dismiss. You win completely in this scenario.
Settlement negotiations may begin. Either you or the collector can make an offer. Defendants typically pay less than the full amount claimed. Settlement represents a partial win.
Litigation may continue through discovery. The collector might file a Request for Admissions or similar documents. You must respond appropriately. The case outcome becomes uncertain at this stage.
Before the lawsuit, collectors often send demand letters. You should respond with a debt validation letter. Many collectors cannot validate debts properly. You win if they fail to validate.
Proper validation forces collectors to sue if they want to continue collection efforts. You must respond to the lawsuit with an Answer. Failing to respond guarantees you lose.
Sample Answer Document
People ask what a proper Answer looks like. Professional litigation attorneys create the underlying document template. The format has been battle-tested across thousands of filings nationwide.
Your Answer document by itself accomplishes nothing unless filed properly. Filing correctly is like turning in homework. Skip this step and you fail automatically.