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How to Answer a Summons for Debt Collection in Arkansas (2023 Guide)

Hannah Locklear | December 29, 2023

Hannah Locklear
Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Fact-checked by George Simons, JD/MBA

George Simons
Co-Founder of SoloSuit
George Simons, JD/MBA

George Simons is the co-founder and CEO of SoloSuit. He has helped Americans protect over $1 billion from predatory debt lawsuits. George graduated from BYU Law school in 2020 with a JD/MBA. In his spare time, George likes to cook, because he likes to eat.

Summary: You have 30 days to respond to a Summons for debt collection with a written Answer in Arkansas, and luckily, you don't have to pay a fee to do so. Use SoloSuit to draft and file your Answer in minutes.

Dealing with debt collectors is brutal. It's even worse when you are getting sued by a debt collector. But lucky for you, we wrote this article to ease the pain and even help you to stick it to your debt collector.

Below, we'll cover everything you need to know to respond to a debt collection lawsuit in Arkansas, including state-specific rules, deadlines, fees, and forms.

Let's jump right in.


Arkansas deadline to Answer a debt collection Summons

Arkansas civil procedure law outlines the deadline you have to respond to a Summons and Complaint. Ark. Dist. Ct. R. 6(b) states:

Time for Filing Answer or Reply. A defendant shall file an answer with the clerk of the court within thirty (30) days after the service of the complaint upon the defendant. An answer to a cross-claim and a reply to a counterclaim shall be filed with the clerk of the court within 30 days of the date that the pleading asserting the claim is served. A copy of an answer or reply shall also be served on the opposing party or parties in accordance with Rule 5(b) of the Rules of Civil Procedure.”

In other words, you have 30 days to respond to a Summons for debt collection in Arkansas. That's right, you only have 30 days to respond once you have received the Summons and Complaint documents.

If you don't respond within that time, you will automatically lose your case by default judgment. And you will most likely have to pay added interest and attorney's fees. That is a strong incentive to respond in time.

Most Arkansas courts count the Answer filed based on the filemark: the date the court receives and processes the document. You should start the process of drafting and filing your response as soon as you are notified of the lawsuit. Using an Answer form can help you speed up the process.

Arkansas Answer to Summons forms

It can be confusing and challenging for an inexperienced person to know which forms to send to respond to a debt collection Summons. SoloSuit solves this challenge by giving you several options that will help you fill out the correct form.

Use SoloSuit's Answer form to respond to a debt collection lawsuit in Arkansas.

Additionally, Arkansas provides an online program to help you create an Arkansas Online Answer Form. Even though this program helps with Arkansas legal aid forms, it isn't great—complete with faceless attorneys, looming courthouses, and 1980s graphics.

That's why it's easier to use SoloSuit to respond to your debt collection case. You can use our simple service to generate your response in 15 minutes, and we'll even have it reviewed by an attorney and filed for you.

Arkansas courts do not charge an Answer filing fee

In most courts in Arkansas, there is no filing fee to file your Answer document. That may seem unsurprising, but actually many state courts charge a huge filing fee. So count yourself blessed.

That being said, there may be a filing fee to file a counterclaim, motion, or other type of court document into your case. Each court has a fee schedule that outlines said fees. Check with your court clerk to determine how much you need to pay if you

Follow these steps to respond to a debt collection case in Arkansas

You might think you have to hire a lawyer to help you respond to an Arkansas Summons form. But finding an attorney can be stressful, time-consuming, and expensive. You can save yourself the anxiety money by representing yourself in court. Here's how.

The first step to winning your Arkansas debt collection case is to respond with a written Answer document. You're probably wondering what your Answer document needs to include. Ark. Dist. Ct. R. 6(a) outlines exactly what you need to include in your Answer document:

Contents of Answer. An answer shall be in writing and signed by the defendant or his or her attorney, if any. It shall also state:

(1) the reasons for denial of the relief sought by the plaintiff, including any affirmative defenses and the factual bases therefor;

(2) any affirmative relief sought by the defendant, whether by way of counterclaim, set-off, cross-claim, or third-party claim, the factual bases for such relief, and the names and addresses of other persons needed for determination of the claim for affirmative relief; and

3) the address of the defendant or his or her attorney, if any.”

SoloSuit's Answer form includes all of these requirements, and it only takes about 15 minutes to complete online.

To respond to your debt lawsuit in Arkansas, follow these three steps:

  1. Answer each allegation listed in the Complaint.
  2. Assert your affirmative defenses.
  3. File the Answer with the court, and send a copy to the opposing attorney.

As you can see, these steps mirror the Answer requirements listed in Arkansas laws. Now, let's take a minute to break down each step in detail.

If you don't like reading, check out this video instead:

1. Answer each allegation listed in the Complaint

The Complaint document lists the specific allegations, or claims, that the opposing party is making against you.

The substance of the Answer is a response to the Complaint document. That is why it is called an “Answer,” because you are answering the Complaint. So, you need to respond to every numbered paragraph listed in the Complaint. You shouldn't just say whatever you want in your Answer. Instead, choose from one of these three responses:

  • Admit: this is like saying, “This is true.”
  • Deny: this is like saying, “Prove it.”
  • Deny due to lack of knowledge: this is like saying, “I don't know.”

Select your response and list it in your Answer with the corresponding number.

Many attorneys recommend making a “general denial.” To do this, just deny each paragraph. You can even deny paragraphs that simply say who you are. Each paragraph you deny, the plaintiff needs to prove; so denying a paragraph makes the case more difficult for them win, especially if they don't have enough evidence to prove their claims.

Let's consider an example.

Example: Greg is getting sued by debt collectors in Arkansas. He finds SoloSuit online and uses its services to draft and file his response. In his Answer document, Greg denies all the allegations listed in the Arkansas Complaint.


2. Assert your affirmative defenses

“Assert your affirmative defenses” means make your defense. Once more, making your defense doesn't mean say whatever you want and ramble on about how your doctor charged you extra and you couldn't pay because your wife ran off with your credit card. It means asserting one of several available affirmative defenses.

SoloSuit helps you make the right affirmative defense the right way.

Here are some common affirmative defenses for debt collection cases:

  • The statute of limitations has expired. More on this below.
  • The debt collector harassed you.
  • The creditor broke the contract.
  • You're active duty military.
  • The account with the debt is not your account.
  • The contract was already canceled. Therefore you don't owe the creditor anything.
  • The debt has been paid or excused.
  • The debt has been partially paid.
  • You were a co-signer but were not informed of your rights as a co-signer.

Select the appropriate defenses and add them to your document beneath your responses.

Let's take a look at another example.

Example: Susan is being sued for a credit card debt in Arkansas. After doing some investigating, Susan realizes that the debt account in question has been inactive for almost six years. Since the statute of limitations on credit card debt is only five years in Arkansas, Susan asserts this as an affirmative defense in her Answer document. She uses Solosuit to draft and file her Answer before the deadline. When the debt collectors suing her find out about the statute of limitations being expired, they dismiss the case.


3. File the Answer with the court, and send a copy to the opposing attorney

Believe it or not, a lot of people get this far and then never actually file their Answer. That's why we file for you at SoloSuit. Filing can be a complicated mess. Here's how one SoloSuit fan described it (edited for clarity).

“These companies like Midland Funding just spam e-file hundreds of thousands if not millions of cases, but it is not easy to e-file an answer, you have to set up an account, pay fees, go to notary publics, scan and convert to pdfs etc. I ended up having to buy a printer, print out the document [and] deny on all the grounds . . . My last question is this, DO I MAIL them the stamped filed answer copy or do I HAVE to have someone ELSE mail it and what is the time requirement? I got the answer in to the court, do I have to also mail it to the plaintiff or I have to get someone else to do it and what is the time limit? I got a stamped copy that I filed an answer within the 20 days time. All this stuff is so ridiculous it reminds me of the Vogons from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.”

Indeed, the filing process is ridiculous, which is why many people just have SoloSuit do it for them. In short, here's what you need to do to file your answer.

  • Print two copies of your Answer.
  • Mail one copy to the court.
  • Mail the other copy to the plaintiff's attorney.

The address of the attorney should be in the Summons and Complaint you received in the mail. The address for the court, though, will probably be hard to find. Usually it isn't listed on the Summons and the court mailing address is different from the physical address that shows up on Google. The best and usually only way to find the mailing address of your court is to call them on the phone like it's 1990.

SoloSuit can file your Answer for you in all 50 states.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James


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The statute of limitations on debt in Arkansas could be your best defense

The statute of limitations is essentially the expiration date on your debt. It is a law that says for how many years a collector can collect on the debt by suing you. Once the deadline has passed, Once the deadline has passed, they no longer have legal ground to sue you for it.

That doesn’t mean that creditors and debt collectors won’t sue you for a debt that is past the statute of limitations. It’s your responsibility to know the statute for your debt and to bring it up in court as a defense in order to get your case dismissed. The judge will not check it for you.

The table below outlines the statute of limitations on different types of debt in Arkansas:

Statute of Limitations on Debt in Arkansas

Debt Type Deadline
Medical 2 years
Oral Contract 3 years
Credit Card 5 years
Student Loan 5 years
Auto Loan 5 years
Personal Loan 5 years
Mortgage 5 years
Judgment 10 years
Source: Ark. Code § 16-56-105, 106, 111, and 114

Now, let’s break down these laws in detail.

Each state has a unique timeline for the statute of limitations on debt. Arkansas law outlines the statute of limitations on debt for the state of Arkansas. Below, we've listed the specific laws regarding Arkansas statute of limitations.

According to Ark. Code § 16-56-106:

“(a) No action shall be brought to recover charges for medical services performed or provided prior to April 1, 1985, by a physician or other medical service provider after the expiration of a period of eighteen (18) months from the date the services were performed or provided.

(b) No action shall be brought to recover charges for medical services performed or provided after March 31, 1985, by a physician or other medical service provider after the expiration of a period of two (2) years from the date the services were performed or provided or from the date of the most recent partial payment for the services, whichever is later.”

In other words, the statute of limitations on medical debt is two years in Arkansas. So, medical providers only have two years from the date of service to sue for an unpaid service, otherwise they won’t have any legal standing in court.

AR Code § 16-56-105 states:

“The following actions shall be commenced within three (3) years after the cause of action accrues:
(1) All actions founded upon any contract, obligation, or liability not under seal and not in writing, excepting such as are brought upon the judgment or decree of some court of record of the United States or of this or some other state;
(2) All actions for arrearages of rent not reserved by some instrument in writing, under seal;
(3) All actions founded on any contract or liability, expressed or implied."

This is a fancy way of saying that all oral contracts, rent, and expressed or implied contracts have a statute of limitations of three years. In other words, you cannot be sued for any of these types of contracts if there has been no activity on the account for more than three years.

AR Code § 16-56-111 states:

“Actions to enforce written obligations, duties, or rights, except those to which § 4-4-111 is applicable, shall be commenced within five (5) years after the cause of action shall accrue.”

Similarly, this law means that any written contracts have a statute of limitations of five years. So, if you have a written contract and you have taken no action on your account associated with that contract for more than five years, the creditor has no legal grounds to sue you.

So, if you had a credit card debt, and the last time you made a payment towards the debt was six years ago, and the debt collector tries to sue you for the debt, then the statute of limitations has expired and you need to bring that up as an affirmative defense.

Each state has at least one government-funded organization that can provide free legal help. Arkansas has a couple. You can find out more about their services, including Arkansas legal services forms and Arkansas legal aid forms, by contacting them using the following information:

Legal Aid of Arkansas, Inc.
714 South Main Street
Jonesboro, AR 72401
(800) 952-9243
www.arlegalservices.org

Center for Arkansas Legal Services
1300 W. 6th Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
(800) 950-5817
www.arlegalservices.org

Arkansas court locations

Sometimes the location of your court isn't clear from the Summons. So we've linked to a list of Arkansas state courts here. This information should be helpful in finding the location of the specific Arkansas court forms for the court in which your case is filed. Use this Arkansas court directory to find your courthouse and court clerk's phone number.

Key Takeaways

Congrats! You made it to the end of the article. So, we whipped up some takeaways just for you.

  • You have 30 days to respond to a debt collection lawsuit in Arkansas.
  • Use an Answer form to respond to your lawsuit in minutes.
  • Arkansas courts do not charge an Answer filing fee.
  • Your Answer document should focus on responding to the allegations listed in the Complaint and asserting your affirmative defenses.
  • You should file your Answer with the court and send a copy to the opposing attorney.
  • SoloSuit can help you draft and file your Answer in Arkansas.

Good Luck!

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