DIY law: respond to your debt buyer lawsuit with forms

Wen you have been sued, the most important thing is to answer the complaint. An answer is not a phone call or a letter, it is a formal response to the formal complaint. This is especially important in debt buyer lawsuits, and especially in Minnesota, where pocket service and prejudgment garnishment give debt collectors the ability to garnish bank accounts without ever filing a lawsuit.

Answering can be tricky, especially in the case of debt buyer lawsuits. Debt collectors’ goal is to confuse and intimidate defendants in the hope that they will not answer.

I have made it easy, however. If you have been sued by a debt buyer (in other words, the named plaintiff is not the original person to whom you owed the debt), these forms should enable you to answer the lawsuit, avoiding default judgment, and to get some basic information about the debt. In many cases, that information will show that the debt collector cannot prove up their case.

But answering is not the last step. A lawsuit is like ping-pong. The parties take turns asking questions and giving answers, making and responding to motions, and more. Do not simply file the answer and then forget about it.

Finally, while these forms should help most defendants in most debt buyer lawsuits, they are no substitute for a lawyer. If you are not confident that the forms are right for your case, seek legal representation. The good news is that it probably does not cost nearly as much as you think it will. Some attorneys may even be able to help you on contingency if the debt collector has violated the FDCPA.