Chloe Meltzer | July 21, 2023
Edited by Hannah Locklear
Summary: If you think you're being sued, but you never received a court Summons and Complaint, you can search for cases online by your name. You can also call the court clerk and have them search for cases involving you. If you are being sued by a debt collector, SoloSuit can help you make your own response in just 15 minutes.
Who is suing me?
This might be a question you end up asking yourself, like millions of other Americans each year. When a lawsuit is filed against you, you should receive a Summons and Complaint (usually in the mail). These are court documents that notify you of the lawsuit and outline how much you supposedly owe. Despite this, you might be sued without ever knowing.
Whether someone handed the Summons to a person in your home, or it was mailed to you at the wrong address, the debt collector or creditor may not have served you properly. If you believe that a lawsuit may have been placed against you without your knowledge, there are steps you can take to find out.
In this article, we discuss how to find out if a lawsuit has been filed against you and how to find out who is suing you. Let's get started.
Sued for debt? Settle your debt before going to court.
If you think you are being sued, you can look up your case information online in most states by searching your full name. Most states have a statewide court case search tool that can help you find all the information regarding your case, including who is suing you, the documents that have been filed into the case, any scheduled hearings or trials, and the deadline for you to respond to the lawsuit.
The table below has court case lookup tools for almost all 50 states. If there is no lookup tool for your state, try searching for your county's courthouse website (many courthouse websites have a case lookup tool).
State | Lookup Tool |
---|---|
Alabama | Unavailable: check county website |
Alaska | Alaska Case Search |
Arkansas | Arkansas Case search |
Arizona | Arizona Case Search |
California |
CA County Case Search *Statewide tool anavailable |
Colorado | Colorado Case Search |
Connecticut | Connecticut Case Search |
Delaware | Delaware Case Search |
Florida | Florida Case Search |
Georgia | Georgia Case Search |
Hawaii | Hawaii Case Search |
Idaho | Idaho Case Search |
Illinois | Illinois Case Search |
Indiana | Indiana Case Search |
Iowa | Iowa Case Search |
Kansas | Kansas Case Search |
Kentucky | Kentucky Case Search |
Louisiana | Unavailable: check county website |
Maine | Maine Case Search |
Maryland | Maine Case Search |
Massachusetts | Massachusetts Case Search |
Michigan | Michigan Case Search |
Minnesota | Minnesota Case Search |
Mississippi |
Mississippi Case Search (Supreme Court cases only) |
Missouri | Missouri Case Search |
Montana | Montana Case Search |
Nebraska | Nebraska Case Search |
Nevada | Unavailable: check county website |
New Hampshire | New Hampshire Case Search |
New Jersery | Unavailable: check county website |
New Mexico | New Mexico Case Search |
New York | New York Case Search |
North Carolina | Unavailable: call courthouse |
North Dakota | North Dakota Case Search |
Ohio | Unavailable: check county website |
Oregon | Oregon Case Search |
Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Case Search |
Rhode Island | Rhode Island Case Search |
South Carolina | South Carolina Case Search |
South Dakota | South Dakota Case Search |
Tennessee |
Tennessee Case Search (Supreme Court/Court of Appeals only) |
Texas | Unavailable: check county website |
Utah | Unavailable: call courthouse |
Vermont | Vermont Case Search |
Virginia | Virginia Case Search |
Washington | Washington Case Search |
West Virginia | Unavailable: check county website |
Wisconsin | Wisconsin Court Search |
Wyoming | Wyoming Case Search |
If you can't find your case online, you can pay a visit to your court clerk to do some investigating at the courthouse. This should be the court in your county of residence where the court clerk can conduct a record search for any pending lawsuits or judgments.
At the courthouse, explain your situation to the clerk and have them search your name in the court records. If there is a case filed against you, the court clerk can give you the following information:
The clerk should also be able to explain whether or not the judge has ordered a default judgment against you, which would give the person or company suing you the right to garnish your wages or put a lien against your property.
It is not uncommon for debt collectors to sue someone for a debt and never actually serve them the Summons and Complaint. There are many reasons why this might happen.
For example, the Summons could have been sent to the wrong address or an old address. It may have been lost in the mail, or perhaps the process gave it to someone else unknowingly. They may have even handed the Summons to one of your family members who forgot to give it to you.
Regardless of the reason, improper service of a Summons can cause major issues for the person being sued, especially considering they must respond within a deadline in order to fight back against the case.
Each state has specific laws on how to properly serve a Summons and Complaint. While each state has unique rules, there are some general rules that apply to most states:
To learn more about service laws in your state, check out this 50-State Chart on Standard Service of Process.
If you are being sued, but you were never properly notified about the lawsuit, you can use this as a defense in your case.
Respond to a debt collection lawsuit in 15 minutes with SoloSuit.
If a lawsuit has been filed against you but there has not been a default judgment issued, you are in luck. You will need to move quickly to respond to the lawsuit, because you only have up to 35 days to respond, depending on where you live.
The first step to responding to a debt lawsuit is to draft and file a written Answer. Your Answer should focus on responding to the claims listed in the Complaint document and asserting your affirmative defense.
You can admit, deny, or deny due to lack of knowledge when you respond to each claim. Denying will give you the strongest case, as it forces the opposing party to prove their claims.
As for your affirmative defenses, these are reasons that the other side's case is invalid and they shouldn't win. There are several defenses you can include in your Answer to present a strong case, including improper service. Below is a list of common affirmative defenses to use in a debt collection lawsuit:
Make the right affirmative defense the right way with SoloSuit.
Learn more about how to respond to a debt collection lawsuit in this video:
If the court clerk informs you that there is a default judgment against you already, then you need to act. If you were never actually served, then you will need to file a Motion to Set Aside default judgment. In the motion, you should explain that you did not respond to the lawsuit in time because you were never properly served and notified of the case.
If the court grants your Motion to Set Aside judgment, you are given the opportunity to respond to the lawsuit again. You should respond by filing a written Answer to the Summons and Complaint, as discussed above.
If you discover that a default judgment has been placed against you and the judge is unwilling to throw it out, then you need to re-evaluate your situation. If you can, attempt to negotiate a settlement with the creditor or debt collector. This may allow you to settle the debt for less than you originally owed. Most judges will grant a Motion to Set Aside judgment, especially if they know you were never notified of the lawsuit.
Avoid a default judgment by filing an Answer with 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.
"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
You can ask your questions on the SoloSuit forum and the community will help you out. Whether you need help now or are just looking for support, we're here for you.
>>Read the NPR story on SoloSuit. (We can help you in all 50 states.)
Here's a list of guides for other states.
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