How to answer a debt collection lawsuit in Minnesota

Editor’s note: this article only discusses collection lawsuits in Minnesota. It is written to provide general information about the process of responding to a Minnesota collection lawsuit. Since the facts and laws involved in each lawsuit are different, the information in this article is necessarily generic. This article is not meant to be a substitute for consulting with an attorney about the unique facts surrounding your case. It is probably best to consult with a lawyer with experience defending collection lawsuits before deciding to represent yourself.

I recently had a client come into my office with a court judgment entered against him by a debt collector. He acknowledged being served with the lawsuit, but thought it was bogus because the lawsuit did not have a court file number on it. And when he called the local courthouse to verify whether the lawsuit was legitimate, the court had no record of such a lawsuit. Based on this information, he did not respond to the lawsuit and the debt collector entered a default judgment and sought to garnish his wages.

In virtually every state, a lawsuit is started by filing it with the court. But Minnesota is a unique state because a lawsuit is started by serving the defendant. Therefore, a lawsuit in Minnesota will almost never have a court filing number. And the courts will not have a record of the lawsuit until the plaintiff files the lawsuit and pays the filing fee. But this doesn’t mean the lawsuit is not legitimate. If you are served with a lawsuit in Minnesota, you MUST answer the lawsuit within 20 days. If you do not answer the lawsuit, it is likely that a default judgment will be entered against you without a court hearing.

So the first step to respond to a collection lawsuit is to answer it. An answer is a formal legal document that responds to each of the allegations in the lawsuit. Your answer should be in a format very similar to the lawsuit itself. It should have the same caption, which provides the applicable county and judicial district and names each of the parties. The body of your answer should either admit or deny each allegation in the lawsuit. Its best to number each paragraph of your answer to correspond with each numbered paragraph of the lawsuit. If you don’t know whether an allegation is true or false, deny the allegation. When you’ve finished responding to each of the allegations, sign and date the answer. You then serve the answer by mailing a copy (keep the original for your records) to the debt collector’s lawyer, or the debt collector itself if they do not have a lawyer.  You don’t have to file your answer with the court and pay the filing fee until the debt collector does so.

But answering the lawsuit is just the first step. Upon receipt of an answer, most debt collectors will serve you with written discovery, called interrogatories, request for production of documents, and requests for admission. You MUST respond to the debt collector’s discovery within 30 days. Pay particular attention to the requests for admission. If you do not respond to each admission within 30 days, the admission will be considered completely true. You don’t want to inadvertently admit to owing the debt by not responding to the requests for admission.

If you properly respond to the discovery, the next step is usually a court hearing, most likely a summary judgment hearing.  Make sure to respond to the debt collector’s motion papers by the deadline provided on the motion. Then, be sure to attend the hearing and explain to the judge why you do not owe the debt. You should also attempt to become familiar with the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules of General Practice before the hearing.

If you live in Minnesota, feel free to download my free Answer form and instructions. And if you want help defending yourself against a collection lawsuit, feel free to contact me.