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The first important step is to actually respond to the court summons. Out of guilt, too many people mistakenly defeat themselves by ignoring a summons for credit card debt. They then lose by default and the collection attorney has his way with them.

The answer to a court summons is only the beginning of the case. Two to three pages is quite sufficient. The consumer needs to use this answer to put the collection attorney on notice that he is going to have to work hard to prove his case. The key to this is making the collection attorney document the debt, according to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide.

Courts usually recognize the consumer’s demand for proper documentation. Collection attorneys cannot produce a signed contract because most credit card agreements do not have one. They also have trouble accounting for the exact amount of money they say is owed. If the collection attorney represents a debt buyer, he will also have trouble documenting the transfer of the account from the bank to the debt buyer.

Answers to summonses for credit card debt are answered differently in different state courts. The local rules of civil procedure provide the guidelines for acceptable answers. They also dictate the proper method of summons and answer service, as well as the amount of time the consumer has to answer before going into default.

The local rules of civil procedure govern the best wording of the affirmative defenses the consumer should use in the answer to the summons. As a start, the consumer can find a generically worded answer in a resource like the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide. Then, if the consumer cannot afford a local attorney, they can simply ask one to comment on the wording of their answer for a small fee.

It is a common practice for collection attorneys to “fish” for defaulting consumers with a batch of court summons. Most credit card debtors do not answer these summonses. For the few that do, the attorney simply withdraws the claim focusing on the easy money from the defaulters he has netted.

Answering a civil summons for credit card debt is not as daunting as it seems, and it alone can put a stop to the civil action.

This content is not intended as a substitute for legal advice. If you need an attorney in your local area, please contact a licensed attorney in your state.

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3. Commonly Asked Questions about Credit Card Debt Settlement
4. If the Day Comes When You Cannot Make Your Monthly Credit Card Debt Payments, What Do You Do?
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