To respond to a debt lawsuit, follow these three steps. Make sure all paragraphs are addressed with deny and paragraph number. Make sure to include your Civil case number. If you need more paragraphs just copy and paste them below. Make sure to sign above your full legal name above the printed name. Edit the highlighted fields with your information,such as court name and state. 1. Respond to every paragraph in the Complaint The Complaint contains several numbered paragraphs detailing the lawsuit against you. For debt collection cases, there are usually at least 5 paragraphs. Read each paragraph and decide how to respond in one of three ways: Admit: Agree with everything in the paragraph. Deny: Make the debt collector prove the paragraph’s truth. Lack of Knowledge: State you don’t know if the paragraph is true or false. Use this if you don’t understand the paragraph or lack the information to respond. Write your chosen response into your Answer after the corresponding paragraph number. Many attorneys suggest denying everything to force the other side to prove their case, which is often a good strategy. 2. Assert your Affirmative Defenses An “affirmative defense” is a reason why the plaintiff has no case. You must list these defenses in your Answer, as you cannot bring them up later. It’s a one-time opportunity: if you don’t assert them now, you lose the chance. Common defenses include: The debt is not yours. The contract was canceled, so you owe nothing. The statute of limitations has expired. The debt has been paid or excused. The debt has been partially paid. You were a co-signer but were not informed of your rights. These are just a few affirmative defenses. Note that inability to pay the debt is usually not a legal defense. 3. File the Answer with the court and the plaintiff After creating your Answer, responding to the Complaint paragraphs, and asserting your affirmative defenses, you must file your Answer correctly. Simply creating the document isn’t enough; you must file it properly. To file your Answer: Print two copies of your Answer. Mail one copy to the court. Mail the other copy to the plaintiff’s attorney. The plaintiff’s attorney’s address will be in the Summons and Complaint. The court’s address might not be listed in the Summons and could differ from the court’s physical address found online.