0:07 About the nonprofit Upsolve
0:25 How To Read and Understand the Court Papers You Get in a Debt Lawsuit
0:42 What is a Court Summons for a Debt Collection Lawsuit?
0:55 Key Elements of a Court Summons
2:23 How To Know if a Form is an Official Legal Form
2:35 How To Read a Debt Lawsuit Complaint Form
2:49 Key Elements of a Complaint Form
3:10 Reminder: Every Court Has Its Own Rules and Documents Guidelines
OTHER USEFUL VIDEOS IN THIS SERIES
📹 • 3 Steps To Respond to ...
📹 • How To Fill Out an Ans...
📹 • What Happens if You Do...
📹 • Understanding Debt Law...
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
✨To see if you’re eligible for free help from Upsolve, check out upsolve.org/✨
Upsolve is the internet's leading nonprofit source of financial literacy education. Nearly 3 million Americans visit Upsolve.org each year. Our services are 100% free. Here’s how we do it: bit.ly/howitsfree
👀 Looking for legal help? Check out www.lawhelp.org/
🌐 For more information on how to answer a court summons without a lawyer, visit: bit.ly/respondtosummons
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Transcript:
In this video, we focus on how to read and understand the court papers used in a debt collection lawsuit. This is the second video in our series on how to reply to a debt collection lawsuit without a lawyer.
If you haven’t already, check out our intro video on this topic.
Ok, let’s jump right in. If a debt collector sues you, they have to give you written notice of the lawsuit.
Most often this notice comes in the form of a summons and complaint.
These documents help ensure everyone is literally on the same page.
What is a court summons?
A summons is a court document that notifies you that you’re being sued. It contains a lot of important information, so be sure to read it carefully and keep it somewhere safe.
Let’s look at an actual summons from a Colorado Court so you can see each detail on a real form.
First, it tell you the names and addresses of both parties in the lawsuit: The plaintiff is the person or company suing you and you’re the defendant.It also tells you the name and location of the court where the lawsuit was filed - knowing this helps you know where to send your reply, where to look for court forms and rules, and which court clerk to contact if you have questions about court procedures.
Then, there are instructions and a deadline or timeline for responding to the lawsuit. This is super important! If you don’t respond by the deadline, you’ll probably lose automatically.
Finally, the summons should list the consequences of not responding. We’ll talk more about these in our video What Happens if You Don’t Respond to a Debt Lawsuit? [FORTHCOMING VIDEO]
Many, but not all, court summons will also include a clear statement notifying you that you’ve been sued.
For example, check out this New Jersey summons which clearly states “You are being sued!” in all caps at the top of the form.
Some courts use more formal language. For example, this Indiana state court summons says, “You are hereby notified that you have been sued by the person named as plaintiff in the court indicated above.”
This matters because some debt collectors send forms that look like official legal documents but aren’t… which is illegal in a lot of states, by the way. But if it’s actually a court document it should list the name of a court and say “summons” and use some language to notify you there’s a court case against you.
What is a complaint?
The main purpose of the complaint is to list the plaintiff’s claims against you. Here’s an actual complaint form from a Connecticut Court.
As you can see, it tells you who is suing you, how much they’re suing you for, and why they’re suing you. The plaintiff’s claims against you - those are the reasons they’re suing you - are usually listed in numbered paragraphs. This essentially gives you a checklist of things to respond to as you fill out your answer form. We'll cover how to do this in our next video.
Each court has their own official forms and formatting rules, so your summons and complaint might look a little different than the ones we showed here.
Regardless of what they look like, they should tell you the basics: Who’s suing you, why they’re suing you, and how long you have to respond to the lawsuit. If any of that isn’t clear, look up the phone number for the court listed on your summons and call the clerk to clarify the information.
If you want legal guidance, check out the link in the description to find free or low-cost legal help near you.
You can also visit Upsolve.org to learn more about your rights in the debt collection process and see if you’re eligible for our free help.