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If you were sued on a debt you have 30 days from the date you are served the paperwork to file a written response with the Clerk of the Court.

Let’s review:

• You have 30 days to respond.
• The response must be written
• The response must be filed with the Clerk of the Court.

How do you respond? What form do you use?

Here is a link to the Answer and General Denial form provided by the Nebraska court system.

The form is very simple. Enter the following information:

• State whether you were sued in “County” or in “District” court. (In most cases this is County court.)
• The name of the County.
• Name of the Plaintiff (the person who filed the lawsuit).
• Name pf as Defendant (your name).
• Case Number (for example: CI 23-1234)
• Sign the form at the bottom
• Enter your address, phone number and email address.

That’s it. You don’t have to write an essay of why you do not owe the debt. You do not have to explain that Amazon mailed you the wrong color sweater or that the doctor amputated the wrong toe.

This court form is a “General Denial.” You hereby dispute the debt. It does not matter why you are denying the debt.

Of course, it may matter to you. And if the doctor amputated the wrong toe you can certainly add that information, but you don’t have to. That big empty space in the middle of the form that seems to invite you to tell your life story and all the wrongs the Plaintiff committed is optional.

Affirmative Defenses.

If you have an affirmative defense, you do need to state that in the response. For example, if the debt collector is suing on an expired debt, you will want to assert a Statute of Limitations defense. If you don’t assert the defense in writing it is lost.

What happens after you respond to a lawsuit?

The plaintiff’s attorney will typically request additional information from you (called Discovery) or they will schedule the matter for a Summary Judgment hearing.

Filing the written answer has prevented a Default Judgment from being entered, but it does not resolve the lawsuit. There is work to be done. Start contacting the plaintiff’s attorney. Request a payment plan if that is your goal. Offer a settlement of the debt. Get a conversation going.

If you are disputing the debt entirely, now you need to prove your case. Start gathering evidence. Demand documents (Motion to Produce Documents). Send written questions to the plaintiff’s attorney (Interrogatories). Schedule a deposition (live questions before court reporter) of the opposing side. Gather the facts to submit to the judge at a hearing.

The second great power of Discovery is the Motion to Produce Documents.

When a bill collector sues for nonpayment of a debt, they also open themselves up to answer questions–finally!!–and to provide documents.

What type of documents? Well, any document relevant to the debt.

Sued on a medical debt?

• Demand to see the invoices and the claims filed with the health insurance company.
• Demand the intake forms.
• Demand copies of all correspondence with the medical insurers.
• Demand a copy of the Master Service Agreement between the hospital and the insurance company to see if the hospital had a contractual duty to file a claim.

Sued on a on a credit card account?

• Demand a copy of the written contract.
• Demand a copy of all billing statements.
• Demand a copy of all notices of interest rate changes.

Rule 26 of the Nebraska Rules of Civil Procedure requires all parties to a lawsuit to provide requested documents with in 30 days.

Does the bill collector have these documents? Probably not. In fact, about the only thing a bill collector has is a list of names and amounts owed by each customer. A bill collector typically has nothing other than your name, address and the amount you owe. They have no actual proof of the debt.

What does a bill collector do when you demand documents?

• They ask their client to provide them.
• They slow down and start looking–actually looking–at the lawsuit.
• They think about all the time it will take to provide the documents.
• They start thinking about accepting a settlement of the debt.

What if the bill collector cannot provide the documents? Sometimes a creditor does not provide documents because they are not available. They can’t get them. All they have is a list of the debts, but no actual proof of the debt. No contracts or statements or payment histories. In short, they have no proof of the debt.

Sometimes they just ignore the request for documents. Then what? A few options exist.

• File a Motion to Compel Discovery to demand the documents and schedule a hearing with the court.
• File a Motion for Summary Judgment. If they cannot produce the documents then there is no proof of the debt. Had the debt truly existed they would have documents to prove it, but since they don’t have the documents the court may dismiss the entire case.

Requesting documents is a powerful tool bill collectors do not want you to exercise. Collection litigation firms are not designed to prove the existence of debts. Rather, they process debt cases with no proof at all. It’s all about process and not proof. That process is premised on consumers not fighting back.

Demand those documents. Fight back!

Image courtesy of Flickr

 ● Jim Shenwick, Esq has  a specialty in commercial leasing (he has represented over 300 tenants and landlords in commercial lease negotiations).   ●Representative Manhattan transactions include the following: (a) represented over 250 commercial tenants representing office space in Manhattan, New York City.●Represented a Landlord who leased retail space to a Gap store in Midtown East, (b) Represented a Landlord who leased space to a coffee chain in the East 20’s, (c) Represented a private equity fund that leased office space in 7 Time Square Tower, (d) Represented a hedge fund that leased office space at 590 Madison Avenue, (e) Represented an Internet social marketing company that leased space on 23rd Street, (f) Represented a Landlord in Soho who leased space to a restaurant and food store, (g) Represented  an art gallery that moved to the West 26th Street art district (h) Represented a hair transplant doctor who leased space for an upscale hair transplant facility on Madison Avenue and (i) Represented a chain of pizza stores who leased space throughout NYC and Long Island,● Jim Shenwick, Esq. has written on the assignment/subletting of commercial leases, questions tenants need to ask Landlords before signing a commercial lease, “silent” commercial lease issues not dealt with in standard lease forms and hidden costs in commercial leases.  ● Jim Shenwick, Esq. also spoke at the Association of the Bar of the City of New Yorkon commercial leasing issues for tenants.
 At Shenwick & Associates, we have represented more than 300 tenants in commercial leasing transactions, including office tenants, restaurants & retain stores.  Any clients having questions about commercial leases should contact Jim Shenwick, Esq.   [email protected]  917 363 3391  Please click the link to schedule a telephone call with Jim Shenwickhttps://calendly.com/james-shenwick/15min