How to file an answer in your Alabama debt collection lawsuit
If you’re defending yourself in your collection lawsuit, you may wonder, “How do I physically file a collection answer into court?”
You definitely can choose to defend yourself, which means that a lawyer will not be the person filing the answer.
You should also make sure that you file this answer within the time limit given.
You can also call us, 1-205-879-2447, and we can help you decide what would be best for you.
Here’s how to file your answer for your collection lawsuit.
In this article we won’t get into what to put in the answer but let’s skip to where you have your answer ready. What do you do now?
Make 2 copies of your answer to the lawsuit.
After you’ve written your answer, you should make 2 copies and take all of them to the courthouse.
You also should take a copy of your lawsuit.
Ask where you should go to file your answer.
Once you get to the courthouse and go through security, you can ask where you should go to file an answer.
You can show them the copy of your lawsuit, because it shows them where you were sued and what type of court you were sued in.
Then they can point you in the right direction.
When you get to the right office, the clerk will help you.
Once they file your answer, they’ll put a stamp on it with the time and date that you filed it.
Then you ask the clerk to stamp your two copies.
You may be wondering, “What’s the purpose of this?”
This is your proof that you went to file your answer.
You may say, “Well, I got the original stamped, and the court has it.”
Well, what if they put your answer in the wrong case?
Or they lose your answer?
That’s rare, but it does happen.
If that happens, and the judge looks at your case, they will think that you haven’t answered your lawsuit.
If they believe that, then you will get a default judgment against you.
You need to make sure you have proof that you did file your answer.
“But, you told me to take 2 copies. Why do I need to do this?”
Well, you mail one copy to the collection lawyer, so they can see that you’ve filed your answer.
The second copy is for your personal proof.
Your collection lawsuit answer shouldn’t just be in paper form.
You should take a picture of your filed answer, and send it to your email.
Or put it in Dropbox or in the Cloud.
Have it somewhere else, just in case something happens to your paper copy of your answer.
Whatever happens, you will be covered if you do this.
It may seem far fetched for the court to lose your answer and for you to lose the paper copy, but I’ve seen this happen. So we protect against this unlikely set of events kind of like how we wear a seat belt even if we are only driving half a mile.
It doesn’t take very long to take this extra step of putting on our seat belt or taking a picture of our answer with our phone.
Feel free to contact us.
If you live in the state of Alabama and you have more questions about what we’ve covered in this article, or you’re wondering about these letters you may be getting from Ferry & Nicholas, or you’re not sure how to handle your case, feel free to get in touch with us.
You can reach us at 1-205-879-2447 and ask for Carolyn, or you can fill out a contact form and we will gladly get in touch with you.
I look forward to talking with you soon.
Have a great day!