Five steps to dealing with a credit card lawsuit

So I was served with a lawsuit over a credit card that I defaulted on. Most of defending yourself in a credit card lawsuit is paperwork.

Step one: File a response to the complaint.

Step two: File a sworn denial.

Step three: File a Motion to Dismiss.

Step four: File a Motion to Strike Affadavit.

Step five: File a Set of Interrogatories, Request for Admissions, and a Request for production of Documents.

Ideally, the plaintiff's attorney will voluntarily withdraw the suit at this point. The principle at work here is that most collection lawsuits are won with a summary judgement, because the defendant does not respond to the initial complaint. This is the bread and butter of the collection lawsuit business. By responding, and making the attorney actually work for the judgement, you dramatically increase your chances of the plaintiff's attorney throwing up their hands and walking away.

Think of it like this - If you're with a group of people in the woods and you're being chased by a bear, you don't have to be the fastest runner to escape - you only have to outrun one person. The collection lawsuit business works the same way - by putting up some degree of fight and forcing the plaintiff's attorney to actually *prove* their case, you're making them do more work than they're used to. They don't like that, and they don't want to mess with you.

My game plan is this - if I can keep them at bay until the statute of limitations runs out, then I've won the game. In my state, the statute of limitations for credit cards is three years, so I'm nearly two thirds of the way there.