An Answer is designed to help you in responding to a debt collection claim. The following resource to answer a debt collection lawsuit in Justice Court is included below:
In Texas, you have 14-20 days to answer, depending on the court. Even if you think you missed the deadline, it is still a good idea to file an answer if your case has not yet had a hearing.
In county/district court, the answer is due at 10 a.m. on the Monday following 20 days from when you were served.
In JP/Justice Court, the answer is due by the end of the 14th day after you were served. If the 14th day is a Saturday, Sunday, or court-observed holiday, your answer is due by the end of the first day following the 14th day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or court-observed holiday.
Turn in your completed answer form at the Courthouse where the Petition was filed and send a copy of the completed form to the Plaintiff or the Plaintiff’s attorney.
If you do not file an answer by the deadline, the Plaintiff can ask the court to enter a default judgment against you, which means you lose automatically.
Venue can be another important issue to look at when answering a debt collection lawsuit. There are standards in state and federal law that address where a debt collection case can be filed. Generally, cases can only be filed in the court that serves the location where the person being sued currently resides or where that person signed the contract that is the subject of the lawsuit. If the debt in question is secured by real property (land or a home, for example), the case should be filed in the court serving the property location. If you believe the case is not being filed in the correct court, you must challenge the venue before you answer the lawsuit. It is important to note that challenging venue does not change any of the Answer deadlines. An obvious example of a case being filed in the wrong venue is, for example, if a person lives in San Antonio and took out a loan in San Antonio and is being sued to collect the loan in a Houston court. Venue violations can also be more subtle, such as filing a case in the wrong court location in the correct city. Here is an example of an extreme case of using the wrong venue to file debt claim cases, where the Texas Attorney General sued to stop the illegal practice. If you think the case is being filed in the wrong court location, you may want to call the court and ask. If the case is filed in the wrong venue, an attorney can help make sure all your rights are upheld.
If you have access to a lawyer, you should consider talking to your lawyer before filling out an answer form. You may accidentally give up important legal rights if you file a form with the Court without first consulting with a lawyer. For help finding a lawyer, call your local law referral service. You may also be able to talk to a lawyer for free at a legal advice clinic. For help finding a free legal advice clinic go to www.TexasLawHelp.org.