Three Mistakes to Avoid After Receiving a Lawsuit | What To Do If You’ve Been Sued

My name is Dalyla Santos. I am a bankruptcy attorney. And today I want to talk to you about three common mistakes that can lead to a lot of problems after you receive a lawsuit, any of these mistakes can hurt your case. Mistake number one, procrastination. Once the lawsuit has been filed against you, and you’ve been served with the lawsuit, you’ll have 20 days to respond to the lawsuit.

Sometimes you may have to even appear in court, do not spend the next 90 days thinking about what you’re going to write, go ahead and prepare a response and submitted to the court. Timely failure to respond timely can lead the other side to ask the judge for a final judgment against you. A final judgment can lead to garnishment of your wages, bank account, or properties. Mistake number two, failing to object to the debt or dispute that debt. I see this in court happening all the time. Many times consumers don’t know any better. And they failed to object to the amount that they’ve been sued for. Or they failed to object to the company that is suing them. Many times we get lawsuits from collection companies, not even the original creditor or the original owner of the debt. It is very important to not waive those rights and objective how much you’re saying that you owe, make them prove how much you owe, and make them prove that they can actually take you to court. Failure to do this can also lead to a final judgment against you. Mistake number three, making any requests or communications by phone. Once the lawsuit is filed against you, you’re required to file responses in writing, making a phone call to the collection companies or to their lawyers will not stop the lawsuit. And it is not advisable at this time. And this is why number one, a judge is not going to accept a phone call as a response to a lawsuit. Number two, you may say things over the phone that may damage your position your case. Number four, even if you enter into a settlement agreement by phone, you need to have it in writing otherwise, the case will continue on and again can lead to a judgment garnishment and so on. People who fail to hire an attorney believe that they cannot afford legal representation. However, in my experience, after representing 1000s of consumers, I found that they often end up paying more when the collection company prevails in the case against them. You do not have to face your creditors alone. We can help you give us a call today.