How to Get a Debt Lawsuit Dismissed: Expert Legal Tips

Facing a debt lawsuit can be overwhelming, but knowing how to get it dismissed could save you thousands of dollars. While there's no "magic bullet" phrase that will instantly make your case disappear, there are several effective strategies that can help you win.

To get expert insights on dismissing debt lawsuits, we spoke with consumer rights attorney John Skiba, founder of the Consumer Warrior YouTube channel, who shared valuable tips for anyone dealing with debt collectors in court.

Sued for debt? Use Solo to respond and settle it.

First, always file an Answer to prevent default judgment

The most critical first step when sued for debt is filing your Answer document. As Skiba explains, "It's easy to lose the case quickly by not filing the initial answer with the court." Without an Answer, the court will enter a default judgment against you, making it much harder to settle or defend your case.

"Over 95% of consumers who get sued don't file an Answer," Skiba notes. By responding properly, you immediately put yourself in a better position.

Respond to debt collection lawsuits fast with Solo.

3 options for getting a case dismissed

There are several paths to potentially getting your debt lawsuit dismissed:

1. Check the statute of limitations

If your debt is older than your state's statute of limitations, you can file a motion to dismiss. The court will then require the debt collector to prove the debt isn't time-barred. Skiba advises:

"Find out when your limitations period is—three years, four years, six years, whatever it is—and see when the last payment was made."

2. File a motion to compel arbitration

Many credit agreements contain arbitration clauses. Filing a motion to move your case to private arbitration can be a strong strategy. John adds:

"That procedural transfer from court to arbitration can help you get a better settlement. Solo offers tools to help you draft these motions correctly.”

3. File a motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution

If your case has been dormant for an extended period after you've filed your Answer, you can file a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute. John explains:

"I've had cases where it's been silent for a year, and we'll file a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute the case. The court will usually grant those."

Settle your debt for less with SoloSettle.

Redefine what "winning" means in a debt lawsuit

Skiba emphasizes that sometimes settling is the best outcome: "If they're suing you for $10,000 and you get it settled for $2,500, that's a win."

For debts purchased by companies like Midland Funding or Portfolio Recovery Associates, even better settlements are possible. "Midland pays on average 4 cents on the dollar for their debt," Skiba reveals, giving you significant negotiating leverage.

Let's consider an example.

Example: Emily was sued for a $7,500 credit card debt by a debt buyer. She used Solo to file her Answer within the deadline. When she discovered the debt was approaching the statute of limitations, she filed a motion to dismiss. The debt collector, rather than fighting the motion, offered to settle for $1,800. Emily accepted, avoiding a judgment and saving over $5,700.

What happens if you lose a debt lawsuit?

If you lose your case, the creditor obtains a judgment that allows them to garnish wages, levy bank accounts, or place liens on your property.

"In most jurisdictions, judgments are good for a set period of time and can be renewed every 10 years for the rest of your life," Skiba warns. "Interest continues to accrue and accumulate."

Remember, even if dismissal isn't possible, negotiating a favorable settlement is often the next best option. Solo can help you respond to lawsuits and connect with debt collectors to settle your case outside of court.

Transcript

George (00:04):

All right, we are going live here in just a sec. Alrighty folks. Looks like we are live. I'm here with my friend John Skiba, the consumer warrior. Very glad to have you on here. John, can you go ahead and introduce yourself a little bit?

John (00:24):

Yeah, George, glad to be here again. Look forward to every time we do this, interacting with your audience. I'm John Skiba. I'm a bankruptcy and consumer attorney in the state of Arizona. I also founded the Consumer Warrior YouTube channel, which is how I think George and I got connected and so glad to be here. I help consumers with all these types of things, debt collection, lawsuits. I always joke all the horrible stuff out there, trying to bring some sense to it and some organization and hopefully some peace of mind that there are ways to deal with these issues and move on with life. So glad to be here today.

George (01:00):

Fantastic. Thanks for coming on the show. All right, folks, we are talking about today how to get a debt lawsuit dismissed. So we're going to go over some of the basics on getting your debt lawsuit dismissed today. We also reserve quite a bit of time for any questions that you all have, so if you have a question, go to put it into the chat Now. As you can see, the chat fills up pretty quickly even before the webinar starts. Get your questions in there now. Please let us know what state you're in. Give us a pretty detailed situation on your case. Let us know what happened, what's the like of the last action that occurred on the case, who the case is with, things like that. And also those are the main ideas, like what happened last, who's the case with what was it for?

Put those things in to your question in the chat, that'll be helpful and allow us to give you some better answers. All right, and as we're getting into this quick disclaimer, we're not your lawyers. I'm not a licensed attorney. John is a licensed attorney in Arizona, but he's not your lawyer either. We aren't providing legal advice here, we're just doing a webinar. We aren't creating attorney client privilege here either. Alright, so those are some things I say because of regulations in the space already. Also, happy pioneer day to everybody here in Utah where I'm based. July 24th is Pioneer Day, celebrating the great pioneers arriving in the state of Utah. And there you go. So celebrating that. All right, John, we got a question for you. Let's do it. Yep. Great. On how to get a lawsuit dismissed. So what can you say to a judge to win a debt collection lawsuit?

John (03:00):

That's the question of questions as far as a lot of it depends on where the case is at. I always joke that the wheels of justice move very slowly on civil cases, and so it's rarely something that happens just one filing or something like that. The number one thing we can do, which we talk a lot about here, is filing the answer. It's difficult to win the cases as quickly. It's easy to lose the case quickly, and the first thing is by not filing the answer. If you don't file that initial answer with the court, after you get served with the complaint and summons a default judgment, it's going to be entered and then you're done. And it's much more difficult even to settle at that point and it just makes life difficult. So as far as presenting information, I break it down into two groups.

I look at a collection lawsuit brought by an original creditor like American Express Capital One or one brought by a junk debt buyer, portfolio recovery, Midland funding LVNB, those types of companies, the cases with the original creditor lawsuit, I was just talking to you about a guy about this in my practice recently. If it's original creditor, if it's actually the person, the company that you signed up with, unless you have a defense like identity theft, something like that, I usually recommend trying to settle the case or pushing it into private arbitration. We've talked before about filing a motion to compel private arbitration. Those are some good strategies to get the case resolved. If it's a junk debt buyer, those cases, there's a lot more moving parts to it. They have to prove not only that you have the original account, but that they transferred it to this new entity and so there may be some stronger defenses there.

So it can be very fact specific as far as how you go about that. And also I tell people you need to define what winning is for you. A lot of times just settling the case, if they're suing you for 10 grand, you get the thing settled for 2,500 bucks, that's a win. I mean, nobody likes to pay anything, but if you're paying 2,500 instead of 10,000, that can be a win as well. And so sometimes just changing that from, Hey, I'm going to win at all costs and take this to trial, a lot of times that's not a good option and settlement or arbitration or something like that's going to be a better end result for you overall.

George (05:17):

Okay, great. So is there a magic bullet? Is there a magic line that you can say this sentence and get the case dismissed?

John (05:27):

I wish there was because my job would be a lot easier and I'd have a lot more free time,

But unfortunately, usually there's not. And the way I look at, particularly when I'm litigating a case and defending something, I go through every line, every bill of sale, every monthly statement. I make sure that I know all the specifics and the details because sometimes you will find things in there that make it much more easy, but there's not going to be something where you're just going to be able to say, Hey judge, what about this? And the case is going to go away. And something a lot of people think is that they come in and say, look, I am unemployed judge, or I have a medical issue or a hardship. Judges are more like umpires. While that may impact settlement, they're not, the judges are just there to tell you whether it's liable or not, whether you have the ability to pay a judgment in the event that one is entered. So that's something to think about as well.

George (06:25):

Right. I think umpire is good even better than a referee. Right. Umpire is a little bit more standoffish than a referee even I think. Yeah. Great. One thought that comes to my mind is if the consumer wants to get the case dismissed, one thing they can say is please dismiss the case. I think if you want to get the case dismissed, it's helpful to ask for the case to be dismissed. Is that right?

John (06:59):

Well, to your point, with the empire not being involved, the court's not going to tell you how to prosecute your case. And often if you don't, it's a creditor ask for something and you to object to us. Sometimes the court will just give it to 'em. You can file a motion to dismiss. If you feel that there's a legal basis for your lawsuit to be dismissed, you can file it and if the other side doesn't respond to it for whatever reason, the court may just grant it. I know here in Arizona where I practice the rules of civil procedures specifically state that your a party not responding to a motion can be deemed as consent for whatever they're requesting for to be granted. And so if you feel that there's a basis for the case to be dismissed, whether they served you inappropriately, whether there's not jurisdiction of the court, whether you're trying to compel private arbitration, which I know you can on SoloSuit, you guys have a product that can help with that, go ahead and file it. And if they don't respond to it, the court may grant it just because they'll interpret their silence as consent for it.

George (08:00):

Right. Great. Yes, yes. So if you want to get the case dismissed, at the very least there's not a magic bullet that you can say to get the case dismissed, but you should ask for the case to be dismissed. Right. And what's like the rationale? So it's like a motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution. Is that kind of the most common one that you would suggest or is a motion to dismiss for something else?

John (08:23):

Yeah, I mean usually the motion to dismiss when I'm filing them, it's often because we've actually filed an answer, we're litigating the case, and then for whatever reason, it's just the case has sat dormant, the creditor hasn't done anything with it nationally. The last statistics I saw show that over 95% of consumers that get sued do not file an answer and it ends up at the default. So with these law firms, that's what they're used to. They're used to processing default judgments and then trying to garnish wages or bank accounts. When you file an answer, you're part of the 5%, and so it's a little bit different. And so people are, I'm surprised sometimes where even a large lawsuit will file a response to it and then we just don't. It's silent. I've had cases where it's silenced for a year and we'll go ahead and file a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute the case.

The court will usually grant those. If they filed the lawsuit, then they just don't do anything. They don't do any discovery. They don't file a motion for summary judgment. It may be something you get dismissed for, something like that. I also will file motions to dismiss if they serve you in the wrong area. Sometimes they'll serve you, I know you're in Utah, Georgia. If someone lives in Salt Lake but they're serving you in a court at a Provo or something like that, not the venue may be incorrect and you can file a motion to dismiss if they're not in the correct court. So there are things like that that you can look at where they served you if they filed an answer and they're not pursuing it, or the big one that we talk about a lot, if you want to push it into private arbitration because that's in your credit card agreement, that allows you, you can file a motion to dismiss and compel private arbitration as well.

George (10:07):

Nice. Fantastic. Okay, let's take a look at another question here. What happens if you lose a debt collection lawsuit?

John (10:24):

If you go to trial and lose, then a judgment can be entered against you. And so judgment, the reason why you don't want a judgment is because these credit card companies, they're allowed, they're annoying, they can affect your credit, but at the end of the day, without that judgment, they can't do a whole lot. They can't take anything from you. But if you lose and they get a judgment, if your state allows it, they can do wage garnishment in Arizona, they can take 10% of your wages. I know there are a couple states that don't allow it. I don't think Texas allows wage garnishment, which always is interesting to me, but like bank levy, they go out for money in your bank, they can record it and it act as a lien against real estate that you own in that particular county. So once they have a judgment, it can be rough.

And not only that, in most jurisdictions, the judgment are good for a set period of time and then they can be renewed. Like in Arizona, they're good for 10 years, they can be renewed every 10 years for the rest of your life, and interest continues to accrue and accumulate. So once they have a judgment, it's still worth your time reaching out and trying to settle it and get it resolved, just ignoring it. All of a sudden a wage garnishments going to pop up or something out of the blue and cause you some problems down the

George (11:36):

Road. I think fascinating in Texas is that wage garnishments not allowed, but collectors still sue plenty frequently in Texas as have other methods of collecting even besides the wage congressman.

John (11:52):

Yeah, no. Well, and it could be, well, I don't know Texas. I know Florida has an unlimited homestead exemption. I think Texas does as well or they have a really high one. Yeah, I always wonder how debt collectors collect in Texas. It doesn't go with the reputation of the state either that they wouldn't allow wage garnishment, but kind of an interesting state by state how they treat things. It is interesting.

George (12:15):

It's great. Alright, let's get into questions from the audience. We got a question from Pere. I take portfolio recovery to arbitration for 2,400 with a PayPal debt. They don't want to settle for less. They asked 1900, what should I expect in arbitration?

John (12:37):

So if you're in private arbitration particularly, I usually go through AAA through the American Arbitration Association. Once you initiate it, which is really simple to do on their website, it walks you through it and you can even call them and they'll help you to go through the initial process. Then they will assign an arbitrator to the case, which is just kind of a private judge. They're typically attorneys and they will set up an arbitration hearing, which is like an informal trial. I know here in Arizona right now, the ones that I've done recently, they've all been done via Zoom.

You have the option of appearing in person. I believe they charge more. They're particularly going to charge the creditor more. But as far as the arbitration hearing, it's fairly informal. Essentially it's similar to a small claims type trial where they'll allow each side to put on evidence. The rules of evidence are really, really non-existent. They will accept the most things into evidence and then the arbitrator will try to review it, determine where it's all at, and then they'll issue an arbitration award either for you or for the creditor. The creditor wants to collect on the arbitration award. The award in and of itself is not something that they can just take and garnish your wages with. They actually have to file that with the court and get the court to essentially sanction that before they can move forward with it. So that's generally what the process is. In my experience, it's rare when the creditor will push it to an actual arbitration hearing, particularly for a debt like that, that's $2,400. The creditor's going to end up paying a filing fee that exceeds that. If they actually assign an arbitrator to it, you have to pay the arbitrators. It's a private company, but that's typically what you can expect if it actually does go forward.

George (14:24):

Okay, great question from Raquel. I was notified of a suit through a notice stuck through my door. Is this illegal?

John (14:34):

It depends. It depends on the rules of your particular state. I know that in a lot of Arizona, again where I practice personal service is the default where they actually have to come to you, put it in your hand and say you've been served. However, if they can't catch you at home or if they try multiple times and they can't find you or they feel like you're dodging service in Arizona, they can go get a what's called an alternative service order and the court will give them permission to mail it to your last known address and come and tape it to your door. So you may want to call the clerk of the court, see what's been filed. Usually they do require that they include a copy of that alternative service order so that you can see that it was actually service. But I always say to err on the side of just thinking it's legit.

I'm not a proponent of dodging service. I know there's people all over YouTube and the internet and they always yell at me when I say this. The people that try to avoid service, they're the ones that end up surprised with the wage garnishment six months down the road. I always say it's better to deal with it head on, either settle it, fight it, file bankruptcy on it, whatever you're going to do, but just get it dealt with rather than having this just unknown thing out there. So if they taped that, I would assume that it's legitimate and you ought to maybe contact the court where it says, and they'll let you know if there's an alternative service order that allows them to do that.

George (15:56):

Right. And even if it was served improperly, the person can still lose the lawsuit if they don't respond.

So you can use Raquel, you can use a SoloSuit to respond. You're going to just click the button alleging improper service as an affirmative defense and that'll protect your rights. And then if you do prove that it was served improperly, that might lead to a dismissal of the case and then they might sue you again and just make sure they serve you properly or they might just let it drop. What else? Alright, question from Andrew. After being served by Midland Credit Management, I disputed everything. Once I did that, the judge ordered us to mediation and Midland sent me an offer letter to settle. Is any of this good news?

John (16:45):

Well, what I always say, any settlement offer is good because I tell my clients this. Again, if they're suing you for 10,000 and they said a settlement proposal and saying they'll take it six, I always say just because we asked, we just say $4,000. So it's kind of going back to that defining what a win is. The fact that you filed the answer, you've avoided the default. They're engaging in settlement discussions. Midland in an FTC filing, it said Midland pays on average 4 cents on the dollar for their debt and so you've got to look, they don't have that much skin in the game here, and so if you can keep pushing that, maybe provide some hardship as far as why they should take a lower settlement, I don't usually recommend actually providing financial information like bank statements and tax returns and all that kind of stuff, but letting 'em know if there's a hardship, if you're on social security, if there's something like that as far as why they should take a lower amount, I think it's a positive thing. So yeah, I think that that's absolutely a positive approach that person's taking.

George (17:48):

Yeah, sounds like something to celebrate to me. Yeah, it sounds like basically you're getting the case settled, Andrew, which sounds like a win. The degree of the win is based on how much the settlement offers for. Yeah, yeah. Great question from Shelby filed an answer and they sent me interrogatories. If I want to settle, do I settle with the attorney or the company and do I have to answer them if I decide to settle?

John (18:20):

Yeah, good question. And I get that question a lot too is hey, if I want to settle, do I still need to file an answer? If you should always plan on responding to whatever it is that they're sending, if you're trying to settle this fine, you can work that out. Interrogatories, written discovery like interrogatories, request for admissions, request for production, they're the bane of every lawyer's existence. It's so tedious when they ask you all these questions, you don't want to do it. If you can get it settled before they're due, then I would say don't worry about it and make sure that it's in writing and that everything's squared away that way. But like requests for admissions, if you don't respond to those timely, they're deemed admitted in most jurisdictions, so you need to be really careful with what is it they're sending you and until you have the settlement agreement in writing, the parties are on the same page and usually the creditor has filed a notice of settlement with the court. You need to continue to operate as if there is no settlement at that point and respond to everything that they've sent over.

George (19:21):

Great. Okay. Question from Gina. I was also served with the documents stuck in my front door handle. Another person just docks stuck on the door. Usually the documents are going to be taped on the door, right? Isn't that like the standard practice?

John (19:40):

I always hear that they are, but then the wind blows 'em off and they're in the bushes or something next to the door, but that's typically what they do is they'll tape it and then also mail a copy. They used

George (19:49):

To mail the documents to the door right back when people had a wood door, more less fragile doors and then no envelope or anything papers open for anyone to see. No privacy at all. Is this okay?

John (20:07):

Yeah, I mean I don't think that there is, because the question is if we're not okay with it, which obviously it can be embarrassing if it's public information out there, there's probably not any F-D-C-P-A liability for something like that. Not only that, the court, like I said, usually if they're doing that, there is an order from the court that tells the process server exactly what they need to do and usually just says, post a copy of the summons of complaint and then mail it. So yeah, unfortunately it stinks, but my guess is that the court order tells them they can do that and there wouldn't be any issues or liability at least as far as the court's concerned for them doing that.

George (20:50):

Right. My understanding here is that the F-D-C-P-A prohibits usage of things like a postcard to collect on a debt, but once litigation begins, the lawsuit's public, so it doesn't really matter if the legal documents are in an envelope or not.

John (21:07):

Yeah, I'd agree.

George (21:12):

Midland filed against me but may be passed the statute of limitations. I need clarification on this. So I guess he's being sued, but he thinks it's passed the statute of limitations, so pretty much what does he do?

John (21:28):

Yeah, I mean that's a place where a motion to dismiss can come into play. If they serve you the Complainant summons, you think it's outside the limitations period, you could file a motion to dismiss stating that it's outside the statute of limitations and then they would've to come in and provide information showing that it's not, first of all, you need to figure out what it is. It varies from state to state as far as what the limitations period is, and then you need to look and see when did it start running, when did it start, and typically it's when one party can sue another. And so I always interpret that to be, because if you look at the terms and conditions of a credit card, once you hit 30 days plus past due, technically you're in default and they could sue you. They don't, they'll usually do internal collections for six months and then charge it off, but the creditor will often try to use the charge off when the statute starts to run.

I have successfully argued that it's actually when the account is just 31 days late because then you are technically in default at that point. And so sometimes it's just a matter of months like that. And so find out when your limitations period is three years, four years, six years, whatever it is, go back and look and see when was the last payment made and then look out probably 30 to 60 days beyond that. And that's when that time period starts to run and it goes right up until they actually file the lawsuit. And if it's outside the statute, you can file a motion to dismiss instead of an answer, even if it's denied, the court will then give you an opportunity to file an answer. Or even if you already filed an answer, you can file a motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment after the fact showing that the statute of limitations is run.

George (23:08):

Okay. Fantastic. Question from John. Not that John Citibank served me with an arbitration hearing for December in pa. I answered their summons. Can I get this dismissed? Citibank didn't sell the credit card debt of 16,000. The debt is 1-year-old.

John (23:28):

Citibank requested arbitration on it. Was that the question?

George (23:31):

Yeah, he says, Citibank served me with an arbitration hearing for December. Sounds a little bit abnormal.

John (23:36):

Yeah, I mean that would be at least in the states that I'm aware of as far as, because the creditors typically, it's always funny, they have the arbitration clause but they don't want to do arbitration. It's more of a, it's an approach to help them avoid class actions is why clauses are there.

George (23:54):

And the next part of his question, he says, I answered their summits, so maybe he is a little bit confused on arbitration versus litigation.

John (24:01):

Okay. And I'm sorry, what was the final question then on it?

George (24:05):

He is asking, let's see here, can I get this dismissed?

John (24:17):

Yeah, I mean it's going to depend on the facts, kind of like what we were talking about, whether there's a statute of limitations. I gave everybody three approaches. You can fight it, settle it, file bankruptcy on it. Those are really your three options when it comes to debt collection lawsuits. If you're going to fight it and prevail on it, you're going to have to show either like a Citibank if they didn't sell the debt, if there's not an identity theft defense, it's going to be tough. It's an uphill battle. I usually recommend looking at settlement options at that point and trying to put yourself in a position to get the best settlement possible, which includes providing them information if there's hardship that you're going through, if you're unemployed, social security, medical issues, again without providing all your financial information to them or trying to push it into private arbitration.

And that's what I know Solo has, they have some products there that can help you to get that into private arbitration. That's usually your best bet when it comes to accounts like that. That's going to put you in a better position to negotiate. I always say if you're going to file that, you got to do it in good faith. You got to be ready to go forward with the arbitration process, but just that procedural transfer of the case from court to arbitration can help you get a better settlement to maybe get a resolve or a lower dollar amount.

George (25:38):

Fantastic. XR XR asks what motions are available to dismiss a case person who served was impersonating a police officer and banging aggressively at my residence? That sounds pretty intense.

John (25:56):

Yeah, you know what though, and somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, I do enough F-D-C-P-A work, which is the fair Debt Collection pre act to be dangerous, but I don't believe the F-D-C-P-A applies to process servers. I think they're one of the unique carve-outs, which is kind of interesting because they're really, that's where the rubber beats the road. They're the ones knocking on your door kind of thing. So because normally impersonating someone that they're not, that could run into F-D-C-P-A issues, but with the process server, I don't believe that it applies to 'em. Interesting. So as far as getting it dismissed, again, it's very fact specific for each case sufficiency of evidence. Do they have enough evidence of the case statute of limitations? Those are the kinds of things you have to kind of do a deep dive into and it can get a little bit complicated and that's why filing the answer using SoloSuit, at least get the answer filed. Sometimes you do need to go talk to an attorney in your particular state, get some specific legal advice, particularly if there's some kind of weird things going on in a situation like that.

George (27:06):

Great. So we're saying impersonating a police officer is legal for, that's illegal for a regular person, isn't it?

John (27:17):

Yeah, no, in general that's illegal. That's a crime. I think a real, real crime, not an F-D-C-P-A crime. I'm just saying. So the actual real crimes aside, I don't think it gives rise to an F-D-C-P-A claim, but there could be other criminal liability or issues there going on that may not directly impact the case, but have other impacts

George (27:44):

A process server can impersonate a pizza guy. I don't think there's anything

John (27:50):

Illegal about that. Yeah, that would be different than a cop for sure.

George (27:55):

You go put the dog in,

John (27:57):

That kind of thing.

George (27:57):

Yeah, so impersonating a police officer is illegal, might not invalidate the entire case. Right. Also, you still need to respond to the case if you don't respond, you could still lose the lawsuit if he really wasn't impersonating a police officer. You might want to file a police report against the process server. You probably have his names on your document.

John (28:22):

Yeah, I mean if it's legitimately wearing police uniform, badge, all that kind of of stuff, that's a much bigger deal than like you were saying, them saying it's Domino's or whatever, just to get you to open the door

George (28:32):

And it could happen. Some of these process servers, they're just like a random person that was paid 20 bucks to deliver this lawsuit to you. Some of them are more professional, some of them are just kind of fooling around. So yeah, you might want to look into filing a police report there. Can I be sued for a debt more than 10 years old? The last on the account was 2012, and this is our last question. It looks like we're about half past the hour here, so what's next If no movement has taken place on the case since I entered my objection and response, so she's wondering what's next?

John (29:16):

Well, you could do one of two things. You could file just a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute most jurisdictions, there's some type of time limit that the case needs to proceed to trial or the court will dismiss on its own. So you could file a motion to dismiss for failure to prosecute. It's their case, they've got to push it to trial. If they don't ask for it to be dismissed and be dismissed with prejudice. A lot of times the courts will dismiss it without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled again. Or if you think that the statute of limitations has expired, you could file a motion to dismiss or a motion for summary judgment, just showing that A, it's outside the limitations period, whatever that is in your state. Like an Arizona, it's six years, so if there's been no payments for 10 years, then yeah. It also depends too on what kind of account it is. If it's a credit card versus an installment loan, like something where it's like a car loan or something like that that can make an impact on the statute. Maybe something you want to talk to an attorney in your specific area if there's an issue that if you want to really narrow that down and then you could proceed with either dismissing for failure to prosecute or dismissing for the statute of limitations issue.

George (30:29):

Right. Okay. That sounds great folks. Well, that is all the time that we have. We've had a lot of people here on the webinar. Hopefully we got to your question, we definitely didn't get to all the questions. Unfortunately we do these things about once a week, so come back next time. Also, our wonderful assistant, Hannah, has been responding to folks in the chat, so hopefully she was able to get your question answered in the chat. You can also email us@supportatsolicit.com if you have any questions or start a chat with us on our website. If you are wanting to respond to a lawsuit, make sure you go ahead and use this link here. This link will support John and go ahead and use this link here it is in the chat. You can click that link and then use it to respond to your lawsuit, file an answer document, and also get your case settled. Alright folks. Happy Pioneer Day. Take care.

How to Answer a Summons for debt collection in all 50 states

Here's a list of guides on how to respond to a debt collection lawsuit in each state:

The Ultimate 50 State Guide

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont; Vermont (Small Claims court)
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Guides on how to resolve debt with every debt collector

Are you being sued by a debt collector? We’re making guides on how to resolve debt with each one.

• 11 Charter Communications
• AAA Collections
• Aargon Agency Inc
• Absolute Resolutions Investments LLC
• ACEI Collections
• Account Services
• Accredited Collection Services
• Accredited Collection Services
• Advanced Recovery Systems
• AES NCT
• AFNI Collections
• Alco Capital Group LLC
• Aldous and Associates
• Alliance Collections
• Alliance One
• Alliant Capital Management
• Alpha Recovery Corp
• Alltran Financial
• Alltran Health
• Alorica Inc.
• Amcol Clmbia in Court
• American Coradius International
• American Profit Recovery
• American Recovery Service
• Americollect
• AmSher Collection Services
• Apelles LLC
• AR Resources
• ARC Collections
• ARM Solutions
• Arrow Financial Services
• ARS National Services
• ARSC Debt Collectors
• ARS National Services
• ARstrat
• AscensionPoint Recovery Services
• Asset Acceptance LLC
• Asset Recovery Solutions
• Associated Credit Services
• Atlantic Credit and Finance
• Atradius Collections
• Automated Collection Services, Inc.
• Autovest LLC
• Avante USA
• Avantus
• AWA Collections
• Balekian Hayes
• Bay Area Receivables
• BCA Financial Services
• BC Services
• Benuck and Rainey
• Berlin-Wheeler
• Bluebonnet Financial LLC
• Bonneville Collections
• Bull City Financial
• Bureaus Investment Group
• Cach LLC
• Caine and Weiner
• Capio Partners
• Capital Accounts
• Capital Collections
• Capital Management Services
• CardWorks
• Carmel Financial/New Coast Direct
• Cavalry SPV I LLC
• CBCInnovis
• CBCS Collections
• CBE Group
• CBV Collections
• CCB Credit Services
• CCS Collections
• CCS Offices
• Central Mediation Services
• Central Portfolio Control
• Cerastes LLC
• Choice Recovery
• Choice Recovery Inc
• CKS Financial
• CKMS Financial
• Client Services
• CMRE Financial Services
• COAF
• Coast Professional
• Comenity Bank Debt Collection
• Commonwealth Financial
• ConServe Debt Collection
• Consumer Collection Management
• Contract Callers Inc
• Convergent Healthcare Recoveries
• Convergent Outsourcing
• Couch Conville & Blitt
• Covington Credit
• CRDT First
• Credco in Court
• Credence Resource Management
• Credit Bureau Systems
• Credit Control Corporation
• Credit Management Company
• Credit Management LP
• Credit Systems
• Credit Systems
• CSIEZPay
• CTC Debt Collector
• CVCS Debt Collection
• Cypress Financial Recoveries
• D&A Services
• Daniels, Norelli, Cecere & Tavel P.C.
• DCM Services
• Debt Recovery Solutions
• Delanor Kemper & Associates
• Department Stores National Bank
• Direct Recovery Associates
• Discover Collections
• Diversified Adjustment
• Diversified Consultants
• Diversified Recovery Bureau
• DNF Associates, LLC
• Dodeka LLC
• DRS Credit
• Dynamic Collectors
• Eagle Loan
• Eagle Accounts Group, Inc.
• Eastern Account System
• EduCap
• Ellington and Associates Collections
• Encore Capital Group
• Enerson Law
• Enerson Law LLC
• Enhanced Recovery Company
• EOS CCA
• ERC Collections
• ERSolutions
• Estate Information Services
• Equable Ascent Financial
• Everest Business Funding
• Executive Credit Management
• Faber and Brand
• Factual Data
• Falls Collection Service
• FBCS
• FCO Collections and Outsourcing
• FIA Card Services
• fin rec svc (Financial Recovery Services)
• First Federal Credit Credit Control
• First Financial Bank
• First Portfolio Ventures LLC
• First Progress
• FirstPoint Collection Resources
• Firstsource Advantage
• FMA Alliance
• FNB Omaha
• Forster & Garbus
• Franklin Collection Services
• Freedom Plus
• Freshview Solutions
• Frontline Asset
• Frost Arnett
• Fulton Friedman & Gullace LLP
• Galaxy International Purchasing, LLC
• GC Debt Collection
• GC Services
• General Revenue Corporation
• GLA Collections
• Glass Mountain Capital
• Glasser and Glasser
• Global Credit Collection Corp
• Global Trust Management
• GMAC Financing
• Golden 1 Credit Union
• Grant and Weber
• Grant Mercantile Agency
• Gulf Coast Collection Bureau
• Gurstel
• Halsted Financial Services
• Harris and Harris
• Harvard Collection
• Harvest Credit Management
• Helvey and Associates
• Hollis Cobb
• Holloway Moxley
• Hosto Buchan
• Howard Lee Schiff
• H&R Accounts
• HRRG
• Hudson & Keyse LLC?
• Hunter Warfield
• IC System
• Impact Receivables Management
• Innovative Recovery
• Integras Capital Recovery LLC
• Javitch Block
• JHPDE Finance 1 LLC
• JP Receivables Management Partners
• JPMCB card
• Kenneth Eisen and Associates
• KeyBank student loans
• Kinum
• Kirschenbaum, Phillips & Levy P.C.
• KLS Financial Services
• Kramer & Frank
• Lakeside Collection
• Lending Club
• Lincoln and Morgan Kabbage
• Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP
• Lockhart Collection Agency
• LJ Ross Associates
• LTD Collections
• Malcolm S. Gerald and Associates
• Malen & Associates
• Mandarich Law Group
• Mannbracken
• Marcam Associates
• MARS Inc. Collections
• MBA Law
• MCA Management Company
• McCarthy, Burgess & Wolff
• Meade & Associates
• Medicredit
• Mercantile Adjustment Bureau
• Merchants Credit Association
• MGM Collections
• Michael J Adams PC
• Midland Funding LLC
• Mid-South Adjustment
• Monarch Recovery
• Monterey Financial
• Moss Law Firm
• Mountain Land Collections
• MRS Associates
• MRS BPO
• MSW Capital LLC
• Mullooly, Jeffrey, Rooney & Flynn
• Nathan and Nathan PC
• National Collegiate Trust
• National Credit Adjusters
• National Credit Care
• National Credit Systems
• National Enterprise Systems
• National Recovery Agency
• National Recovery Solutions
• Nationstar
• Nationwide Credit
• Nationwide Recovery Services
• Nationwide Recovery Systems
• NCEP LLC
• NCO Financial Systems Incorporated
• North American Recovery
• Northland Group
• Northstar Capital Acquisition
• Northstar Location Services
• NPAS
• NRC Collection Agency
• Oliver Adjustment Company
• Oliphant Financial, LLC
• Oportun
• P&B Capital Group
• PCB Collections Agency
• Palisades Collection LLC
• Pallida LLC
• Paragon Contracting Services
• Paragon Revenue Group
• Payday Loan Debt Collectors
• Pendrick Capital Partners
• Penn Credit
• Perdue Brandon
• Persolve LLC
• Phillips & Cohen Associates
• Phoenix Financial Services
• Pioneer Credit Recovery
• PMAB LLC
• PRA Group, Inc.
• Pressler, Felt & Warshaw LLP
• Prestige Services, Inc.
• Prince Parker and Associates
• ProCollect
• Professional Finance Company
• Progressive Management Systems
• Provest Law
• PYOD LLC
• Quaternary Collection Agency
• RAB Collection Agency
• Rash Curtis and Associates
• Radius Global SOL
• Radius Global Solutions
• Rawlings Company
• Razor Capital
• Real Time Resolutions
• Receivables Performance Management
• Regents and Associates
• Reliant Capital Solutions
• RentGrow
• Resurgent
• Resurgent Capital Services and LVNV Funding
• Revco Solutions
• Revenue Enterprises LLC
• Revenue Group
• RGS Financial, Inc.
• RMP LLC in Court
• RMP Services
• RS Clark and Associates
• RSIEH
• RSIEH
• RTR Financial Services
• Rubin & Rothman
• Salander Enterprises LLC
• Samara Portfolio Management
• SCA Collections
• Scott Parnell and Associates
• Second Round Collections
• Second Round Sub LLC
• Selip & Stylianou LLP
• Sequium Asset Solutions
• Sessoms and Rogers
• Sherman Acquisition
• Sherman Financial Group
• SIMM Associates
• Source Receivables Management
• Southern Management Systems
• Southwest Credit Group
• Spire Recovery Solutions
• SRS Company
• Stark Collection Agency
• State Collection Service
• Stenger and Stenger
• Stillman Law Office
• Summit Account Resolution
• Sunrise Credit Services
• Superlative RM Debt Collector
• Suttell and Hammer
• Synergetic Communication
• Synerprise Consulting
• The Law Office of Michael J Scott
• Trellis Company
• Troy Capital
• TRS Recovery Services
• TrueAccord
• Tulsa Teachers Credit Union
• UCB Collection
• UHG 1, LLC
• Unifin
• Unifin Debt Collector
• Unifund
• Universal Credit Services
• US Bank Collections
• USAA collections
• USCB America
• Valentine and Kebartas
• Valley Servicing
• Vance & Huffman LLC
• Van Ru Credit Corporation
• Velo Law Office
• Velocity Investments
• Viking Client Services
• Wakefield and Associates
• Waypoint Resource Group
• WCTCB
• Weinberg and Associates
• Weltman, Weinberg & Reis
• Westwood Funding
• Williams and Fudge
• Wilshire Consumer Credit
• Wolpoff & Abramson
• Worldwide Asset Purchasing
• www.AutomotiveCredit.com
• Zarzaur & Schwartz
• Zwicker & Associates

Resolve your debt with your creditor

Some creditors, banks, and lenders have an internal collections department. If they come after you for a debt, Solosuit can still help you respond and resolve the debt. Here’s a list of guides on how to resolve debt with different creditors.

• American Express; American Express – Debt Collection
• Bank of America
• Barclay
• Best Buy Credit Card
• Capital One
• Chase
• Credit One Bank
• Old Navy Credit Card
• PayPal Synchrony Card
• Regional Finance
• Retailers National Bank
• Reunion Student Loan Finance Corporation
• SYNCB/PPEXTR
• Synchrony Bank
• Synchrony Walmart Card
• Target National Bank
• Webbank
• Wells Fargo
• Can I Pay My Original Creditor Instead of a Debt Collection Agency?
• Can I Settle a Debt with the Original Creditor?

Settle your medical debt

Having a health challenge is stressful, but dealing medical debt on top of it is overwhelming. Here are some resources on how to manage medical debt.

• Am I Responsible for My Spouse's Medical Debt?
• Do I Need a Lawyer for Medical Bills?
• Do I Need a Lawyer to Fight Medical Bill Debt?
• Does Bankruptcy Clear Medical Debt?
• How Much Do Collection Agencies Pay for Medical Debt?
• How to Find Medical Debt Forgiveness Programs
• Is There a Statute of Limitations on Medical Bills?
• Medical Debt Statute of Limitations by State
• Summoned to Court for Medical Bills — What Do I Do?
• Summoned to Court for Medical Bills? What to Do Next

Guides on arbitration

If the thought of going to court stresses you out, you’re not alone. Many Americans who are sued for credit card debt utilize a Motion to Compel Arbitration to push their case out of court and into arbitration.

Below are some resources on how to use an arbitration clause to your advantage and win a debt lawsuit.

• How Arbitration Works
• How to Find an Arbitration Clause in Your Credit Agreement
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration in Florida
• How to Make a Motion to Compel Arbitration Without an Attorney
• How Credit Card Arbitration Works
• Motion to Compel Arbitration in California
• Sample Motion to Compel Arbitration

Stop calls from debt collectors

Do you keep getting calls from an unknown number, only to realize that it’s a debt collector on the other line? If you’ve been called by any of the following numbers, chances are you have collectors coming after you, and we’ll tell you how to stop them.

• 1-800-390-7584
• 800-289-8004
• 800-955-6600
• 8009556600
• 877-366-0169
• 877-591-0747
• 800-278-2420
• 800-604-0064
• 800-846-6406
• 877-317-0948
• 888-899-4332
• 888-912-7925
• 202-367-9070
• 502-267-7522

Federal debt collection laws can protect you

Knowing your rights makes it easier to stand up for your rights. Below, we’ve compiled all our articles on federal debt collection laws that protect you from unfair practices.

• 15 USC 1692 Explained
• Does the Fair Credit Reporting Act Work in Florida?
• FDCPA Violations List
• How to File an FDCPA Complaint Against Your Debt Collector (Ultimate Guide)
• How to Make a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Demand Letter
• How to Submit a Transunion Dispute
• How to Submit an Equifax Dispute
• How to Submit an Experian Dispute
• What Debt Collectors Cannot Do — FDCPA Explained
• What Does Account Information Disputed by Consumer Meets FCRA Requirements Mean?
• What does “meets FCRA requirements” mean?
• What does FCRA stand for?
• What is the Consumer Credit Protection Act