Form to Respond to Debt Claim Lawsuit

An Answer is designed to help you in responding to a debt collection claim. Two Answer forms are included below:

• Answer form (PDF version, fillable if opened with Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
• Answer form (This online Answer Writer, created in collaboration with SMU's Dedman School of Law, asks you a series of questions that are then used to create your custom Answer.)

If you decide to use the Answer form, you must turn it in to the appropriate court by the filing deadlines:

In Texas, you have 14-20 days to answer, depending on the court.  

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.