What Happens After I File an Answer to My Debt Lawsuit?

Filing an Answer to your debt collection lawsuit is a crucial first step that prevents a default judgment against you. But what happens next? Many people think filing an Answer resolves everything, but it's actually just the beginning of the legal process.

Understanding what to expect after filing your Answer helps you stay proactive and make smart decisions about your case. Whether you're dealing with original creditors like Chase or debt buyers like Midland Funding, knowing these next steps puts you in control of your financial future.

Your court hearing will likely be scheduled soon

The most common thing that happens after filing an Answer is getting a court date. Depending on your state, this might happen automatically when the lawsuit gets filed or the court might wait until after you respond.

Check your original lawsuit documents carefully. Many states include the hearing date, time, and courtroom number right on the Summons and Complaint. Even if you filed an Answer, that hearing is still happening.

Court schedules vary dramatically by location. In California, ongoing court delays mean hearings might be scheduled eight months after filing your Answer. In other states, you might have a hearing within 30-60 days.

Stay proactive by calling your court clerk regularly to check for updates. Court schedules change, and you don't want to miss an important date because you weren't paying attention.

Respond to debt collection lawsuits fast with Solo.

Let's consider an example.

Example: Lisa filed her Answer to a $3,200 credit card lawsuit in March. Her original documents showed a hearing scheduled for November. In September, the court moved her hearing up to October due to a cancellation. Because Lisa checked with the court clerk monthly, she found out about the change and attended her hearing. If she hadn't been proactive, she would have missed the hearing and lost by default.

The plaintiff may respond with legal motions

After you file your Answer, the plaintiff's attorney often responds with additional legal motions. It's part of the normal legal process, so don’t panic if this happens.

A motion for summary judgment is the most common response. This asks the judge to rule in the plaintiff's favor without a trial, claiming there are no genuine disputes about the facts. Many law firms file these automatically when they see an Answer, regardless of how strong your defense actually is.

The plaintiff might also file a motion to dismiss certain parts of your Answer or request more information about your defenses. These motions create deadlines for you to respond, so read everything carefully and note important dates.

If the plaintiff realizes they don't have strong evidence, they might file a motion to dismiss the entire case. This could happen with or without prejudice—meaning they might be able to refile the lawsuit later or they're giving up permanently.

The judge could make an early ruling on your case

Sometimes judges review your Answer and make quick decisions about the case. This doesn't happen often, but it's worth understanding the possibilities.

If your Answer clearly shows the lawsuit is past the statute of limitations, the judge might dismiss the case immediately. Similarly, if you have strong evidence that the debt isn't yours or the amount is wrong, the judge could rule in your favor early.

On the flip side, if your Answer doesn't comply with court rules—maybe you missed the filing fee or forgot required forms—the judge might enter a default judgment against you. This sounds scary, but you can usually fix it by filing a motion to set aside the judgment and correcting the problems.

Most cases don't get resolved at this stage. Judges typically want to see more evidence from both sides before making final decisions.

Example: Mike was sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates for a $4,800 debt in 2025. His Answer clearly stated that his last payment was in 2017, and Ohio's statute of limitations is four years. The judge reviewed the case and dismissed it immediately because the lawsuit was filed too late. Mike never had to attend a hearing or negotiate a settlement.

Settlement becomes your best opportunity after filing an Answer

Here's the most important thing to understand: filing your Answer actually puts you in the strongest position to negotiate a favorable settlement. You've shown you're willing to fight the case, but you haven't forced the plaintiff to spend significant money on trial preparation yet.

Debt collectors and their attorneys would much rather settle cases than go to trial. Trials are expensive, time-consuming, and unpredictable. By filing your Answer, you've proven you're serious about defending yourself, which often motivates the other side to negotiate.

This is the perfect time to contact the plaintiff's attorney to negotiate settlement options. You can offer a percentage of the debt—typically 30-60% of the original amount—or propose a payment plan that works with your budget.

Settle your debt for less with SoloSettle.

Don't wait until right before trial to start settlement discussions. The closer you get to trial, the more money the plaintiff has invested in your case, and the less willing they'll be to accept a reduced settlement.

Example: Jennifer owed $6,500 to Discover and got sued by a collection law firm. After filing her Answer, she immediately contacted the attorney to discuss settlement. She offered $2,600 (40%) as a lump sum payment. The attorney initially wanted $4,500, but after explaining her financial situation, they agreed on $3,200 paid over six months. Jennifer resolved her case without ever going to court.

Discovery requests require prompt responses

If your case doesn't settle quickly, it might enter the discovery phase. This is where both sides exchange information and evidence to prepare for trial.

You might receive discovery requests asking for bank statements, employment information, or written answers to specific questions about the debt. These aren't optional, and you must respond within the deadline or risk losing your case automatically.

Discovery requests can feel invasive, but remember that the other side has to provide information too. You can send your own discovery requests asking them to prove they own the debt, provide the original contract, or explain how they calculated the amount owed.

Many debt buyers struggle with discovery because they don't have complete documentation. If they can't prove their case during discovery, they might dismiss the lawsuit or offer a better settlement.

You can take action even after judgment

If you ignored your case and ended up with a judgment against you, it's not over. You can still negotiate payment arrangements, and many collectors will accept reduced amounts even after winning in court.

The difference is your leverage disappears once there's a judgment. Instead of negotiating from a position of strength, you're now trying to avoid wage garnishment, bank levies, or property liens.

Collectors still prefer voluntary payments over forced collection methods, so they'll usually work with you. But expect to pay a higher percentage of the debt and have less flexibility with payment terms.

Example: David ignored his lawsuit and ended up with a $8,200 judgment. Six months later, he contacted the collection attorney when he started getting garnishment notices. Even though they could garnish his wages, they agreed to a payment plan of $275 per month for 24 months instead. David paid $6,600 total and avoided the stress of wage garnishment.

Stay proactive throughout the entire process

The biggest mistake people make after filing an Answer is assuming the hard part is over. Filing your Answer prevents default judgment, but you need to stay engaged throughout the entire legal process.

Make sure to check with your court clerk regularly for updates, respond to all court deadlines and discovery requests promptly, and keep copies of every document you send or receive. Most importantly, consider settlement negotiations before trial since it's usually your best path to resolution.

Remember that debt collection lawsuits are business transactions for the other side. They want to resolve cases efficiently and profitably. By staying proactive and professional, you can often reach an agreement that works for everyone.

Solo's tools can help you through every step of this process. Use SoloSuit to file proper responses to court documents, and use SoloSettle to negotiate directly with collectors without uncomfortable phone calls.

Taking control of your debt lawsuit is possible. You just need to stay engaged and make smart decisions along the way.

Transcript

Hannah:

Hello everybody. Thank you so much for joining the Debt hotline. My name is Hannah Locklear. I am with Team Solo. We have a really exciting topic and it's a very common question that we receive at Solo. Since we are in the business of helping people respond to their debt lawsuits and file their answers with the courts, we do get the question what happens after I file my answer? I wanted to kind of break down a few things that might happen once you've filed your answer in your court case. And before I get started, I did want to give a quick disclaimer and make sure everyone knows that I am not an attorney. Solo is not a law firm, so we do not represent people legally. Any information that we share in this podcast is simply educational and we are trying to provide resources to people to help them point them in the right direction, help them get on the right track to prepare for court or to know what to expect in a debt collection lawsuit process.

So any information I share tonight is not legal advice. Please do not take it as legal advice. It does not apply specifically to your case, but hopefully it will help point you in the right direction and hopefully I'll be able to share some resources that will also help you out. So I also, before we jump into the questions and the topic at hand, I did want to make a quick announcement about our giveaway that's happening right now. We are currently running a giveaway for the month of July. It is called the in debt ended stay giveaway. We're trying to celebrate financial freedom all month long and to do so we are giving one lucky winner $4,700 to help pay their debt. That's like $4,700 cash prize. The reason we chose that amount is because it's the average amount that people get sued for on the Solo platform.

So the average amount that a Solo user gets sued for and we wanted to help somebody pay off their debt and maybe resolve their lawsuit if they've been sued. So if you're watching, please go ahead and enter the giveaway. We want to pay it back and pay it forward. So it's a great way to maybe catch up on some of your debt and potentially even pay it all off. We're also giving away mini prizes each week so the more you enter, you can enter once per day and the more you enter, the bigger your chances of winning. We're giving $500 away each week leading up to the grand prize, which will be announced next week at the end of the month. So we will be announcing a mini prize winner tomorrow so you still have time to enter and potentially win that mini prize or the grand prize, which again will be announced on August 1st after the month wraps up.

So before we get started with the questions, I did want to explain a little bit about potential things that could happen once you file an answer to your lawsuit. So every case is different. I think that's one thing to note that's super important. Every state is different. The court procedure, the civil procedure is different in every single state, but on our website, solosuit.com, we have a blog that has resources for every single state and ways that you can prepare for court in your state if you've been sued. And we have state specific rules. So we've done a lot of research to try to share information about rules that are specific. If you've been sued in California or if you've been sued in Texas or Florida, wherever it is, we have resources on our blog that you can read about to help you prepare for court, know what to expect in the process for your particular court involved.

And if you have further questions, you can always contact us at support@solosuit.com. That's our email address and we're happy to help point you in the right direction. We also have a trained AI on our website that you can interact with and ask questions that are specific to your case. The AI that we trained has been trained to pass the bar exam in the top 10% so it knows its stuff and yeah, we just want to make sure that we're providing the best resources out there for people who are dealing with this situation because it's not a very fun situation to be in. It's stressful and we get that. So that being said, I did want to take a few minutes to just break down a few options of what might happen if you have been sued and you've already filed your answer and maybe what you can expect if you're in that position.

All right, so a couple things that could happen if you have been sued for debt. Again, this is a very common question we receive at Solo and so I just wanted to break down a few things that could potentially happen if you have already filed your answer and what to expect if that's the position that you're in right now. So the first thing that might happen, and it may have already happened before you even filed your answer is that a court hearing or trial will be scheduled. So depending on where you live, this may be like an automatic process that happens as soon as the lawsuit gets filed. So you may notice on your court documents that when you receive the summons and complaint it says that there's a court date scheduled already and it'll tell you the court address, the time, the date, even the courtroom number.

So that's something really important to pay attention to. Even filing an answer isn't going to stop that hearing necessarily from happening. And if you do have a hearing scheduled in your case, it's really important to show up. One thing you can do though is file your answer and you can even call the court clerk to see if there's been any changes to the case or the court hearing that is scheduled. It's really important to be proactive in your case though and keep up to date with all the statuses of your case and the court hearing scheduled. In some states, for example in California, their court system is pretty backed up at the moment. I think COVID really contributed to that a few years ago and they're still trying to catch up with scheduled hearings and whatnot. So if you've been sued in California, you might not have your hearing scheduled until months and months and months later, but that is not abnormal.

That is totally normal at this point to hear that you have a hearing all of a sudden scheduled maybe eight months after you filed your answer. Like I said, that's super normal. So just be watching for any updates from the court. Again, you can be proactive, you can call the court clerk if you don't know how to find their number. You can contact us at solo and we can put you in the right direction and get you their number. We have a database of thousands and thousands of courts across the United States that we can try to connect you with your court clerk if you have questions about your hearing and how to prepare or where to go, what you need to bring with you, all those things. So that's an important thing that might happen. After you have filed your answer, be sure to watch for updates on court hearings or trials.

The second thing that could potentially happen is maybe after you have filed your answer, the plaintiff or the person that is suing you will respond. So they could respond by filing some sort of a motion. For example, if they think that your answer wasn't really valid or didn't have a lot of substance to it, they could potentially file what's called a motion to dismiss or they may file a motion for summary judgment, which basically just means the person that I'm suing didn't really have that much evidence to prove that they aren't guilty or that they're not liable for what we're claiming that they owe. And so the judge should just rule in our favor and give us a summary judgment and give us what we want basically. So the plaintiff may respond, and I did want to point out that for a lot of law firms that are filing cases in bulk, they may have an automated process to where if they see that an answer gets filed, they automatically will file a motion for summary judgment in response to that even without necessarily reviewing all the details of the case.

They have an automated system with lots of documents that get printed and mailed out every single day. And so if you do see a motion like that come through, you don't need to panic because it doesn't necessarily mean that the judge has granted the judgment quite yet. But if there is any hearing coming up and that motion has been filed, be sure that you attend because what you say at that hearing could potentially help the judge make a decision and whether or not they should grant that motion. So that's another thing. The plaintiff may also respond by filing a motion to dismiss the case, which basically means they're saying, okay, we realize that we don't have the proper evidence or the enough proof to substantiate our claims at this moment, so we're going to dismiss the case. They could dismiss it with or without prejudice.

The difference between the two just means that you might see the lawsuit pop up again in the future. So that's something that we see happen quite a bit at Solo. Actually, after people file an answer to their lawsuit, they may see that the plaintiff will respond with a motion to dismiss and it just means that the case has been dismissed. That's obviously best situation if your case gets dismissed and it can't get brought up again in the future, obviously we would all love for that to happen, but in many cases that's not going to happen because you may not have enough of a defense to prove that you aren't liable for the debt. So don't expect that to happen, but it's definitely an option and something we see happen quite regularly at solo number three. So after you filed your answer, the judge may immediately make a ruling based on your answer or if they see any issues with your answer or for whatever reason, if your answer didn't comply with court rules, maybe you didn't pay the filing fee or maybe there was some issue with not including all the proper forms that you need to include when filing your answer, the judge may make a ruling for a default judgment in that case.

If that does happen, it's not too late for you to respond and file what's called a motion to set aside judgment. This would help you negate the judge's ruling for motion or for a default judgment and give you another chance to file your answer, make any corrections that you needed to make, pay the filing fee, whatever it is that you needed to do to make sure that your answer gets filed properly with the courts and that the judge will actually look it over and make sure that it's properly accepted by the court. So that's another thing that could happen. The judge could make a ruling, but usually rulings aren't going to happen right away until there's been some sort of a hearing or some sort of a response from the plaintiff. In some cases, the judge might even dismiss the case based on how strong your answer was.

For example, if you have evidence and proof that the lawsuit is passed the statute of limitations, maybe you're being sued for a really old debt that got kind of brought up by a debt buyer or something. If that's the case, the judge might automatically rule that the case is dismissed and you won't have to worry about it. Again, that doesn't always happen and it has to be very obvious and clear that the case is past the statute of limitations and you should include that in your answer if that's what happened. And then lastly, one thing that we think is probably the ideal outcome in a debt lawsuit like this is if you've already filed your answer, you're actually at a point where you have a lot of leverage to potentially negotiate with the creditor or the debt collector or the debt buyer that is suing you and try to settle the debt before you go to court because just like you, like attorneys, law firms, creditors, collectors, they don't really want to spend all their day in court.

So just like you, they'd rather probably avoid going to court. So if you reach out to the law firm that's representing whoever is suing you and you ask them to about your options and try to negotiate with them to settle the debt before the court date, there's actually a really good chance after filing your answer that they'll work with you to try to find a solution. It's obviously easier said than done, but in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of solo, in many cases it's really good time after you filed your answer to reach out and try to settle the debt before your court date, try to get everything squared away so that you don't have to have this legal battle in court and deal with the stress of that. So these are some really common options of what might happen after you've filed your answer.

And with that, I think I'll just go ahead and jump into some real questions from real people. And again, before I get into these questions, I did just want to remind you all that I am not a lawyer. I do have several years of experience dealing with debt lawsuits and helping with kind of pseudo paralegal work, if you will, but I am not a lawyer, so none of this is legal advice. This is just legal resources and information that can hopefully point you in the right direction. So first question is from Roger Salvati. It says I sent an answer to a lawsuit on May 27th. The attorney has not responded to the answer and they have rejected two attempts to settle. Should I file a motion to dismiss at the 60 day mark? Okay, great question, Roger. This is not uncommon to see that you've filed your answer and that you've reached out and maybe tried to settle and they're not budging.

I think that it's good to keep trying keep communicating. I'm curious what your attempts to settle were like if you reached out to the law firm, again, if you're trying to settle the debt before your court date, you're going to want to call the attorney directly to try to negotiate with them and their information should be listed on all the court documents that were included when you got served. So it's best to reach out directly to the law firm and try to see what your options are. In many cases, it's good to offer kind of a little bit lower than the full amount that you could potentially pay off and give yourself some room to negotiate. So if they rejected two attempts, I'm curious, was your first attempt a smaller amount than your second attempt? You have to be willing to negotiate to potentially to try to settle, but Roger, I think you're 100% on the right track trying to negotiate and get things settled before you have to go to court.

You were asking if you should file a motion to dismiss at the 60 day mark. So a motion to dismiss can be a powerful legal tool, especially if the attorney goes silent and they don't respond. The attorneys have to respond before deadlines as well. And so if they don't try to move forward with the legal proceedings or if there is a court date and they don't show up, there's a chance that the court would rule in your favor in that case. So I don't know what state you're in, so I can't tell you. Yes, you should file a motion to dismiss, but if your ultimate goal is to try to settle the debt, I would say it's best to keep reaching out to the law firm and just trying to negotiate. We have some resources again@solosuit.com that can give you some tips on how to negotiate, but in some cases it's also better to offer getting on a payment plan with the law firm.

Maybe you can afford $50 a month or whatever the amount is to try to get on a monthly payment plan to pay off the debt. That might be a good option. If they didn't accept your two attempts to settle already, you might try to see if they would accept some sort of a payment plan. Hopefully that was helpful, Roger. Alright, let's see. Next question is from Oppi May. It says I used solo suit to respond. This process has been going on for about two months now. The last update was affidavit filed. What should I expect now and should I attempt to settle is scary. So yeah, first of all, I do want to reiterate that this is not a fun experience to go through. It's stressful, it is scary. So definitely can empathize with you there, but just know that you're not alone. Solo is here to help and if there's anything that we can do to help, we would love to.

You can use our tool called Solo Settle and I think that could be maybe a good option to try to settle to the debt before any other legal proceedings happen or court hearings. Solo settle is our settlement negotiation platform. Basically it just digitalizes all of the settlement negotiation process. So if you want to try to send an offer to the law firm but you don't really want to call them or you don't want to wait until your court date to confront them in person, solo settle offers a really great option to move it online, send and receive offers from creditors and collectors. We've got more than 400 collectors that actively use our platform to negotiate with consumers, but it's always initiated by the consumer. So that's something that's really cool. You kind of get to take more control over the negotiation process and our platform helps you send an offer to settle and make sure that you word it in a way that will protect your legal rights, that won't dig you in any deeper holes, anything like that.

So MPI may, if you're watching still, I would definitely advise using Solo Settle to try to negotiate if that is what you ultimately want to do. It said, what should I expect after an affidavit was filed? So I'm not sure what the affidavit is, but you definitely want to go take a look at it. You should be able to access that on your court's website or even if you call your court clerk, you can ask for a copy of this affidavit to learn what it's all about and you should also, so you said that this process has been going on for two months. Again, that is not uncommon. That happens a lot. So the process could go on in some states it goes on for more than a year. In California, that is not uncommon for that to happen. So you definitely want to probably read this affidavit to understand what's actually happening in your case, but if you do have the funds to try to offer a settlement or if you have funds to set up a payment plan, a monthly payment plan, now that you've filed your answer, it could be a good opportunity for you to do that.

Again, that's not legal advice. I don't want to say you should or shouldn't do that, but it may be a good opportunity for you at this point to reach out and negotiate. So again, solo settles there for you. It's a great tool that will make the process a little bit less scary. Okay, next question is from Claudia. It says, can a debt collector sue you if your original creditor discover credit card was merged and purchased by Capital One Bank? So as long as there is a trail of ownership of the debt, yes, a debt collector can still sue even if the credit card was transferred to ownership from Discover to Capital One. As long as the debt collector has proof that they have the legal right to sue, yes, they can sue. If you think that for whatever reason they don't have that chain of ownership of the debt and proof of it, then you could definitely use that as an affirmative defense in your answer or as maybe an argument in your case.

But yes, they short answer to your question, yes, they can sue you. They just need to have proof that they have the legal right to do so and that will require documentation that comes from the original creditor, which in some cases debt collectors do not have or debt buyers do not have. So again, that can be sometimes a good argument or defense in your case. Alright, next question is from her Bible journey. It says, what if the statute of limitations is about to run out and the hearing isn't scheduled yet? So that's a good question. Long story short, as long as the lawsuit is filed before the statute of limitations runs out, it is still valid. So even if there's a hearing scheduled, but it happens after the statute of limitations expires, the case is still valid. It doesn't really affect the statute of limitations at this point when the hearing occurs, as long as the lawsuit was filed before, it will still be valid.

Alright, next question is from Damiana Flores. It says, for some reason my papers do not show a date or time, but it does show location of a court building. Does this mean that they want me to contact them before they take the court route? Okay, so in this particular case, it sounds like maybe the state that you live in the court procedure is that the documents get filed. If you respond to the lawsuit, then the court will schedule a hearing. Again, some courts they'll schedule a hearing as soon as the lawsuit gets filed, but in other states, depending on how the defendant responds in this case you would be the defendant. So depending on how you respond, they may wait to schedule a hearing or a trial. So it sounds like they're giving you the location of the court building and all the information about the court so that you know where the case is located. And I could be wrong, I'm not saying that this is true particularly for your case, but it sounds to me like there isn't a court hearing scheduled quite yet. Damian, if you want to know for certain, you could reach out to your court clerk and ask if there's anything scheduled for your case. And again, I always recommend being proactive in your case, trying to stay ahead of the game so that you know what to expect and you have time to prepare for court if you do have a hearing scheduled. Next question.

Hi, have a question. I filed a response to my answer. It's been about 45 days and I've heard no response from the creditor, just as curious what my next step should be. Thank you.

Okay, so great question. It sounds like you're just wondering what to do if you haven't heard back from your creditor after filing your answer. And it's been about 40 days, you said 45 days? I think so again, that is not uncommon. Many creditors will file lawsuits like in bulk. So they'll hire a law firm and the law firm will use technology to file a bunch of lawsuits all at the same time. They're trying their best to keep up with all the lawsuits, but for cases that maybe aren't super high dollar or that maybe there isn't the strongest defense, or maybe they don't have the strongest evidence that they should be owed the debt, whatever reason, there are all sorts of reasons why the creditor may take some time to respond. So if it's been 45 days and you're still waiting to hear back from the creditor or just figure out what the next steps are in your lawsuit, again, I think a good place to start would be to call the court clerk and just ask, is there anything I need to know about my case?

Is there any information or a court hearing or trial scheduled? What do I need to know and how can I prepare for the next step? Your court clerk might have some, they're not a lawyer, so they're not going to give you legal advice either, but they might have some helpful information about what to expect next for your particular court and state. That being said, we also have all sorts of blog articles, solosuit.com that might be able to help you know what the procedure would be in your particular state. In some states there may be a deadline for the creditor to take action after you have filed your answer, and if they don't take action, there's a potential that you could file some sort of a motion into the case to try to get it thrown out or get the ball rolling again. But to answer your question, if it's been this long, there may be a reason why they've hesitated.

And if you have the means and you want to try to settle, it might be a good time to reach out and try to settle the debt. Otherwise you can just wait and see what happens. That's not too bad of a move either. In our experience at Solo, from what we've seen and all the stories we've heard, settlement is usually the best case scenario because it means that your debt is officially resolved and you can move on with your life. You won't have this looming court case over your head all the time. So that's another thing to think about. Hopefully that answer was helpful. Helpful. Alright, let's move on to another question.

Okay, so my question is, I'm currently being sued by Liv funding for a $5,000 credit card from Navy Federal. I was served at my home and I had a short period of time to answer the lawsuit, so I answered stating on the lawsuit stating I did not owe. I also went to mediation, did not settle to mediation. So now the case is going back to court. My question is what kind of answers should I file to get the case dismissed because it is a lawsuit that has passed the statute of limitations for the state of Georgia, which is six years, and I want to file another answer before I get a court date. Is that possible or not? I fell behind on my credit card during COVID when I lost my job and was pretty much kind of living off of it. So it has been over six years since I've pretty much made the last payment on that credit card as well.

Okay, this is a very great question. So it sounds like you're being sued for $5,000 by LVNV funding for an old credit card. LVNV funding is a debt buyer. So LVNV funding will purchase debts in bulk and then file lawsuits in bulk to try to collect as much debt as possible. And LVNV funding will work with you to settle the debt if the case is valid and you actually do owe it. So that's something to think about. If you are being sued by LVNV funding, they will work with you. It might take several rounds of negotiating, but they will work with you. But it sounds like in your particular case being sued for $5,000, you fell behind on payments during COVID and haven't made a payment since then. So it sounds like the statute of limitations has run out and there is a chance that LVNB funding has filed this lawsuit past the statute of limitations.

If that is true and you didn't bring that up in your initial answer to the lawsuit, in some states, I don't know what the procedure is in Georgia. I'm not an attorney, and it may be a good idea for you to consult with an attorney at this stage. If the case is going to court and you've already gone to mediation, it may be a good idea to talk to a lawyer and maybe just see what your options are. However, in some states if you did not include that the statute of limitations was expired in your initial answer, which you usually need to do in your first answer, you could file what's called an amended answer. And it's basically going to be very similar to your original answer but with added detail. So again, if you did not bring this up as a defense in your original case or your original answer that the case was passed the statute of limitations, you could try to amend your original answer to bring that up as an affirmative defense.

And if the judge can see clearly that the last payment was more than six years ago and whatever the statute of limitations is in Georgia, then there's a good chance that that case could get dismissed for debt buyers like LVNB funding. It's not uncommon for cases to be filed that are past the statute of limitations since they do have an automated process to file lawsuits in bulk. However, LVNE funding it is a debt buyer, but they're not just trying to go out and file lawsuits past the statute of limitations unknowingly. I think if they had known that the lawsuit was passed the statute of limitations, they may not have bothered in the first place. But yes, if that is true in your case, then you definitely will want to bring it up in court and there's a potential, you can maybe do that with an amended answer. But yeah, just do what you can to bring proof in documentation to bring physical proof documents that will prove that the last payment was made years ago and now the lawsuit LVNB funding doesn't actually have the legal means to file this lawsuit against you. All right, we've got one more voicemail question. One more question from someone who called into the debt hotline before.

Hello, my question is how to handle a letter of discovery that I've received of being sued by portfolio associates for about $4,500 and I have filed a motion with the court to have it compelled to arbitration and I'm still waiting to hear from the court. The only thing I've had with the court is they mandated a meeting, a mediation meeting, which we didn't agree on as far as their amount or anything. So I did file the answer of course, and this is with portfolio associates and I have other debts and collections, medical debts, and how did I fall behind? Fall behind because of medical debt. We have fully insured with high deductible and we've had multiple children vacancies, one within in NICU for three months. So you can imagine all the bills and everything. So anyways, thank you so much. Take care.

All right, so it sounds like you've been sued and the case has moved to discovery. So that's actually, I'm surprised I forgot to mention that. That is actually a very common thing that can happen after filing an answer. The case may move to a process called discovery, which is basically where both parties in the case, both the defendant and the plaintiff, both the sewer and the sui if you will, where they can both submit documentation to the court that helps prove their side of the case. So if you have any sort of documentation in your case that proves that you shouldn't be held responsible for this lawsuit, this would be your opportunity to submit it to the court if the case has moved to discovery. That being said, it sounds to me like your family has gone through some significant hardship over the last few years, which has made it hard for you to stay up to date with your bills and this totally happens, and I'm really sorry to hear that you had to deal with that NICU stay.

Having a baby in the NICU is a stressful and very sad circumstance in many cases. So I'm sorry that you and your family had to go through that. That being said, the reason I bring this up is because if you have significant reason and real reason as to why you fell behind on your payments, it might be a good opportunity for you to share that information with the creditor that's suing you. Again, debt collectors can seem really scary at times, but they're humans too and they will hear you out. So if you can just explain and maybe even bring documentation as to why you fell behind on your payments and show your financial hardship and prove it, there's a good chance that you could try to reach a settlement before you have your actual court date. So I think that's a good route to take.

But yeah, if you have any other sort of documentation or proof that you shouldn't be held responsible for the debt, whatever it is, now is your chance during discovery to submit that to the court. In most states, we've got a question from Jimmy. It says, how should I handle a plaintiff's request for discovery? Do I answer all their questions? Should I do the same thing back to them? I used solo to file the answer and file a motion to compel arbitration. Should I wait for the judge? And I'm in Arizona. Alright, so if you're in Arizona, Jimmy, I would recommend going to the Consumer Warriors YouTube channel. Consumer Warrior is an attorney named John Skiba who's based in Arizona. He gives a lot of educational resources and information on his YouTube channel, and a lot of it would be specific to Arizona since that's where he is licensed to practice.

You can also check out his website. I think he has resources on his blog. Again, his YouTube is called Consumer Warrior, and that might give you some good resources to help you understand how to respond to a request for discovery. If they've asked you questions, you definitely want to respond to their request. If they've sent in a request for admissions, you'll definitely need to respond. If you ignore it, there's a good chance that the case will end in a judgment and not in your favor. So definitely be sure to respond. I'm glad that you were able to file your answer already, but again, filing your answer is only the first step in a lawsuit. It's going to block that default judgment, but it really, it is only going to be the first step to trying to find a resolution. In some cases, the case might get dismissed, but in many cases the case will move forward.

And that's why I was saying earlier at Solo we see that usually best case scenario is to try to settle the debt before the court, before the court date. And again, we have tools like Solo Settle that can help you respond to the lawsuit, but also send an offer to try to negotiate and settle the case outside of court before your court date. Our platform has seen debts settle in as little as two days. I think the average amount for settlement time is about 14 days on our platform. So if you're trying to settle and just move forward with resolving this debt, head on over to solo suit.com/solo, it's a really great tool to help you get in that process. But if they have sent you a request for discovery, you definitely want to respond. Do not ignore it. And again, John Skiba, consumer warrior, he has some great resources that might help what's best to do specifically in Arizona.

Alright, we've got a question from John S. It says, I offered 35% of the total debt amount and they came back with 75% of the total amount. What should I offer next? Okay, John, so this is really great progress. I'm excited to hear that you got a response and 75% is actually not that bad. Obviously there's a huge range of settlement percentages that could happen in a case like yours, but 75% is really not that bad. You could come back with somewhere closer to 50%, see what they say, see if they could go down any further. You could explain that you have financial hardship or that you have certain life circumstances that made it hard for you to keep up with the payments. But yeah, if they're offering you 75% at this point, that might be actually really a good offer for you to accept.

Obviously you're going to have to review your finances, figure out if that's something that you can realistically afford, but just know that 75% is not that bad of a place to be. But I think you could definitely come back maybe somewhere closer to 50% and see if you can get them to budge any more. And again, if you have any sort of proof that you're experiencing financial hardship or that you simply can't afford the 75% that they're requesting, just communicate that with them, show them, and they should work with you. Alright, everybody, again, I just want to share that we are hosting the In-DEBT-ENDence giveaway at Solo. You can enter every day until the end of the month for a chance to win $4,700 to pay off your debt. This is just a way that we wanted to show how much we care about our users, and we really genuinely want to help people settle and resolve their debts.

And so that's why we're working hard to build tools and solutions to help it make it easier for people to do so. SOLO is rooting for you. We know that you can find a resolution to your case. Settlement may be in most cases the best outcome, but please reach out to us at support@solosuit.com or call into the debt hotline at 801-613-8181. We'll respond to your questions twice every single week in our Debt Hotline podcast. Good luck, everybody out there. Thank you.

Disclaimer: The information presented in this podcast is intended strictly for general informational purposes and should not be construed as legal, financial, or investment advice. Solo and its hosts are not licensed attorneys, financial advisors, or other certified professionals. While select guests may hold active professional licenses, their contributions are purely for educational thematic discussion. They're not delivering professional or personalized advice. Solo is not a law firm, does not offer legal representation and must not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel. It is also not engaged in debt, settlement, credit repair, or financial counseling services. So provides self-directed software tools designed to support users in navigating their own legal and financial situations. Participation in this podcast is not establish an attorney-client relationship. Listeners are encouraged to consult with attorneys or licensed professionals for guidance specific to their circumstances. The opinions expressed by podcast participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or official positions of SoloSuit Inc. DBA Solo or any affiliated organizations.

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