0:00 Intro
0:30 What Happens if You Don't Respond to the Lawsuit on Time?
1:04 How Not Responding Can Make Things Worse
1:31 What Is a Default Judgment?
2:00 Debt Collection Tactics Allowed With a Court Order
2:18 What Is Wage Garnishment?
3:00 Suing You Is a Business Strategy for Debt Collectors
3:44 Upsides of Responding to a Lawsuit
OTHER USEFUL VIDEOS IN THIS SERIES
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Key Takeways:
If you get served with a summons and complaint for a debt collection lawsuit, you need to take action, and it needs to be quick. If you don't respond by the deadline, the most likely outcome is that you'll lose the case.
Not responding to the lawsuit doesn’t make it go away. It often makes things worse. If the debt collector wins, it’ll be easier for them to access your money, and it might mean you owe more in the long run as court and legal fees get added to your debt tally.
Default judgment = A court order saying the debt collector won because you didn’t defend yourself.
Having a default judgment allows the debt collector to garnish your paycheck, freeze your bank account, or put a lien on your property. Wage garnishment is the most common of these three. Once the debt collector has a garnishment order, they can take money from your paycheck week after week until the debt is repaid. However, state and federal laws limit how much of your paycheck can be garnished each week.
To avoid these potential negative consequences, start by answering the lawsuit, which just means filling out some paperwork.
Debt collectors usually choose the path of least resistance… if you file a response to the lawsuit, they aren’t going to get the easy win they want and you get some power back.
If they know they'll have to fight you in court, they may drop the lawsuit or reach out with a debt settlement offer instead.
Even if they move forward with the lawsuit, you’ll get to tell your side of the story in court and correct any information the debt collector got wrong in their complaint.
This is especially important if you already paid the debt, the debt account doesn’t belong to you, the debt is really old, or the debt collector broke the law by harassing you while trying to collect from you.