How to Fight a Debt Collection Lawsuit in Texas — A Complete Defense Guide

Two facts about Texas cut in opposite directions, and you need both in your head before you do anything else.

The first fact is good news, and most Texas defendants do not know it: Texas Constitution Article XVI § 28 categorically protects current wages from garnishment for ordinary consumer-debt judgments. Credit-card, debt-buyer, and medical-debt judgments generally cannot be enforced by garnishing your Texas paycheck. New York caps wage execution at 10% of gross; California, Florida, Ohio, and most other states use the federal 25%-of-disposable cap; Texas has a constitutional categorical bar. That is a stronger current-wage protection than nearly any state in this site's registry.

The second fact is the danger, and it is why you cannot relax: the Justice Court Answer deadline is one of the shortest in the country — often 14 days from service under Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(d). The wage-garnishment protection does not make a default harmless. A default judgment still lets the plaintiff levy non-exempt bank deposits under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 63, docket a judgment lien under Chapter 52, pursue turnover relief, and accrue statutory post-judgment interest under Tex. Fin. Code § 304.003. The short clock tells you to start today; the wage protection tells you the fight is worth having.

This is the comprehensive Texas defense guide. It is plaintiff-agnostic — LVNV Funding, Midland Credit Management, Portfolio Recovery Associates, Cavalry SPV, Jefferson Capital, anyone else: the framework is the same. For plaintiff-specific patterns, see /blog/lvnv-funding-suing-me-texas, /blog/midland-credit-management-suing-me-texas, or /blog/portfolio-recovery-associates-suing-me-texas. This pillar treats the framework from the angle of Texas procedure: the 14-day Justice Court deadline, the four-defense framework, the Rule 508.2 pleading-disclosure attack with its Rule 91a dismissal vehicle, the Tex. R. Evid. 803(6) appellate-district split, the § 392.307(d) categorical no-revival rule, the three-tier trial-court structure, and the arbitration playbook.

What we will cover, in order: what is actually happening in your case; how to find your deadline before anything else; the four main defenses (SOL under § 16.004(a)(3) paired with the § 392.307(d) categorical no-revival rule; the Rule 508.2(b) pleading disclosures plus the Rule 91a dismissal vehicle plus the 803(6) foundation split; the Texas Debt Collection Act counterclaim; and the federal FDCPA cumulative remedy); the Texas Arbitration Act playbook; the three-tier court structure and the Rule 502.5(b) general-denial advantage; who might be suing you; a concrete 14-day action plan; what makes Texas different; and when to escalate. Bookmark it — the goal is a single reference so you do not have to chase pieces across the internet during the two weeks that matter most.

Let us start at the beginning.

In plain English: somebody filed a lawsuit against you in a Texas court alleging that you owe money on a consumer debt — usually a credit card, sometimes a personal loan, a medical bill, an auto deficiency, or a charged-off installment loan. The packet in your hand is a Citation (the order to respond, served by a constable, sheriff, or licensed process server under Tex. R. Civ. P. 103) plus a Petition (the Texas equivalent of a complaint, with attached exhibits). "Petition," not "complaint," and "Citation," not "summons" — Texas uses its own vocabulary, and knowing the words helps you read the paperwork.

Which Texas court your case is in matters, because the rulebook and the deadline both change with the tier. Texas runs a three-tier trial-court structure. Justice Court handles debt claims up to $20,000 under the simplified Tex. R. Civ. P. 500-510 (Texas abolished the separate small-claims court on August 31, 2013, and folded everything into Justice Court). County Court at Law handles cases above $20,000 in most counties, up to roughly $250,000 depending on the county-specific statute. District Court handles cases above the County Court at Law tier. Most consumer-debt cases land in Justice Court because the typical credit-card balance is below the $20,000 cap.

Who can sue you in Texas. Two categories. First, original creditors — the bank or finance company that originally extended the credit (Capital One, Citibank, Synchrony Bank, Discover, Chase, Comenity, Credit One, Wells Fargo). Second, debt buyers — companies that bought a portfolio of defaulted debts from the original creditor for pennies on the dollar and now sue to collect the full face amount plus interest, fees, and costs. Most Texas consumer-debt cases are debt-buyer cases.

Why that distinction matters in Texas. The strongest defendant tools have the broadest reach against debt-buyer plaintiffs. Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307(d) — the categorical no-revival rule — applies only when the plaintiff is a debt buyer. Justice Court Rule 508.2(b) imposes debt-claim pleading disclosures whose chain-of-assignment requirement bites hardest on debt buyers, whose portfolio bills of sale rarely identify each link. The Tex. R. Evid. 803(6) foundation problem — can the debt buyer's custodian authenticate the original creditor's records? — arises precisely because the plaintiff bought the paper and did not create it. The federal FDCPA covers debt buyers under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) but generally excludes original creditors collecting their own debts. The Texas Debt Collection Act is broader — it reaches both — but the pleading-and-proof leverage is sharpest against debt buyers.

You have time, you have defenses, and you can do this. The 14-day Justice Court deadline is short — shorter than the 28 days Ohio allows, shorter than the 30 days most states allow — but it is enough time to read the petition, identify your defenses, draft a competent Answer, and file. The default-judgment outcome is entirely avoidable as long as you do not ignore the citation.

Before reading another word about defenses, find your deadline. Missing it produces a default judgment regardless of how strong your defenses are.

The 14-day Justice Court rule. In Justice Court debt claims, Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(d) sets the Answer deadline at 14 days from the date of service. Calendar days, not business days. The clock runs from the date the constable, sheriff, or process server completed service as shown in the return of citation. If the 14th day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or day the clerk's office is closed, the deadline rolls forward to the next day the court is open under Tex. R. Civ. P. 4 — but do not rely on the rollover. Because Justice Court answers are frequently framed around the "Monday after" convention on the citation itself, always read the exact due date printed on your citation and treat the earlier of the two as your deadline.

The County Court and District Court rule is different. If your case is in County Court at Law or District Court, Tex. R. Civ. P. 99(b) governs: the Answer is due at or before 10:00 a.m. on the Monday next after the expiration of 20 days after the date of service. Proctor v. Green, 673 S.W.2d 390 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1984), reads the "20 days" as strictly more than 20 days before you count to the next Monday. Look at the case caption on your citation to identify the court (Justice / County / District); the deadline mechanics are genuinely different, and defaulting because you applied the wrong tier's rule is a self-inflicted wound.

What default judgment looks like in Texas. The court enters judgment for the alleged amount plus court costs plus statutory post-judgment interest under Tex. Fin. Code § 304.003. Once entered, the plaintiff generally cannot garnish your current wages for ordinary consumer debt (Article XVI § 28), but can garnish non-exempt bank-account deposits under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 63, docket a judgment lien under Chapter 52, or pursue turnover relief. Texas homestead and personal-property exemptions may protect important assets, but exemption analysis is fact-specific. Setting aside a default requires a Tex. R. Civ. P. 320 motion for new trial filed within 30 days, satisfying the Craddock v. Sunset Motor Lines factors (mistake or accident, a meritorious defense, and no injury to the plaintiff from a new trial) — discretionary and much harder than answering on time. Treat your effective filing deadline as Day 10 or 11 of the 14, never Day 14.

Filing mechanics. Most Texas Justice Courts accept e-filing through eFileTexas.gov, which is available statewide for pro se filers; some rural courts still require in-person filing at the Justice of the Peace clerk's window for your precinct. Harris County has 16 Justice of the Peace courts across eight precincts; Dallas and Tarrant each have eight; Travis has five; Bexar has four — your citation lists the precinct and position number, and you must file in the right one. If you cannot afford the filing fee, file a Tex. R. Civ. P. 145 Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. For a deadline calculator, county-specific clerk links, and precinct guidance, see /sued-for-debt/texas.

These four defenses do most of the heavy lifting in Texas debt cases. Some apply to nearly every case (find your deadline, run the SOL math, check the Rule 508.2 disclosures if your plaintiff is a debt buyer). Others are case-specific (the TDCA and FDCPA counterclaims depend on the plaintiff's status and actual collection conduct). The framework below leverages the pieces of Texas law that are best supported by statute and case law — but no defense is automatic, and the right one depends on your court tier, your plaintiff, your documents, and your timeline.

Most consumer credit agreements contain mandatory arbitration clauses naming the American Arbitration Association as the administering forum. The Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §§ 2, 4) and the Texas Arbitration Act (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 171.021 directing the court to compel arbitration, § 171.025 directing a stay of litigation pending arbitration) both support a motion to compel when a valid clause applies.

The case I won pro se was Plaza Services LLC v. DiSalle, Eau Claire County Case No. 2025SC000885 — a Wisconsin Small Claims action, not a Texas case. The complaint was the standard debt-buyer template: a thin allegation of breach, a generic affidavit, a chain-of-title summary that named no original creditor with specificity, and a copy of a cardholder agreement attached as an exhibit. The cardholder agreement contained a binding arbitration clause naming the AAA as the administering forum. I filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration. The court granted it and the dispute moved to AAA administration. Under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules, the business that wants AAA to administer must pay a business filing fee within a specific window. Plaza Services failed to pay. The AAA closed the file for non-compliance. I returned to Eau Claire County and moved to dismiss for the plaintiff's failure to comply with the arbitration procedure it had itself invoked. On April 9, 2026, Commissioner Johnson dismissed the case without prejudice.

How the mechanic transfers to Texas. The sequence is: (1) file your Answer within the 14-day Justice Court deadline; (2) promptly file a Motion to Compel Arbitration citing Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 171.021 and 9 U.S.C. § 4; (3) attend the hearing; (4) if arbitration is ordered, file your AAA Demand within the court's window (the current consumer filing fee is $225 — verify at adr.org); (5) if the plaintiff fails to pay the business-side fees, AAA issues a decline-to-administer letter and refunds your $225; (6) demand voluntary dismissal the same day; (7) if the plaintiff does not respond, file a Motion to Dismiss attaching the AAA decline letter and refund notice. File the motion to compel promptly after the Answer, because substantive litigation activity inconsistent with arbitration can waive it under Morgan v. Sundance, 596 U.S. 411 (2022); AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011), controls the FAA-preemption backdrop.

The honest framing. This is a transferable playbook with Texas statutory hooks, not a Texas outcome. To this author's knowledge no completed Texas trial-court case has validated this exact sequence end-to-end in a debt-buyer context — the case I personally won was in Wisconsin. The FAA leg is federal and operates identically in Texas; the § 171.021 motion-to-compel leg is well-grounded in the Texas Arbitration Act; but the final motion-to-dismiss-after-AAA-decline step is the most legally novel move in Texas and is judge-dependent. Strongly consider consulting a Texas consumer-rights attorney before filing the motion to compel and again before the motion to dismiss. The arbitration clause is not the win; the playbook around enforcing it is. Answered exists to compress that playbook into a workflow, not to warrant a particular outcome in any specific Texas case.

Texas runs three trial-level civil tiers, and the tier controls both your deadline and how much simplified-pleading help you get.

Justice Court (debt claims ≤ $20,000 under Tex. Gov't Code § 27.031(a)(2)) operates under the simplified Tex. R. Civ. P. 500-510, with Rule 506.2 explicitly accommodating self-represented practice. This tier holds the single most pro-se-friendly procedural feature in this site's registry: Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(b) provides that "an answer that contains a general denial places in issue all matters pleaded by the plaintiff except those required to be specifically denied." In plain terms, a Justice Court Answer can be a one-paragraph general denial that puts the plaintiff to its proof on every element of its claim, with your affirmative defenses (SOL, no-revival, Rule 508.2 defects, lack of standing) added by inclusion. No other state in this registry — not California, not New York, not Florida — has a comparable simplified-pleading rule for pro se defendants. Discovery in Justice Court is permitted but limited under Rule 500.9 (a leave-of-court requirement, capped document requests, restricted interrogatories); Rule 502.6 streamlines requests for disclosure.

County Court at Law handles cases above $20,000 in most counties, up to roughly $250,000 under Tex. Gov't Code § 25.0003(c)(1) — though the exact ceiling varies by the county-specific statute. Some smaller counties have only a Constitutional County Court (Tex. Const. art. V § 16), with original jurisdiction generally between $200 and $20,000; in those counties, cases above $20,000 go directly to District Court. District Court handles cases above the County Court at Law tier. Both apply the full Texas Rules of Civil Procedure with the Rule 99(b) Monday-after-20 deadline, full Rule 192 discovery, and Rule 21 motion practice — a fuller and more formal rulebook than Justice Court, and there is no Rule 502.5(b) general-denial shortcut, so paragraph-by-paragraph responses become important.

Which tier are you in? Read the case caption on your citation. Justice Court captions name a precinct and a Justice of the Peace; County and District Court captions name the numbered court and county. If you cannot tell, call the clerk's office named on the citation. Most credit-card debt-buyer cases under $20,000 land in Justice Court. The Rule 91a dismissal vehicle, the Rule 508.2 disclosures (Justice Court specifically), the SOL and § 392.307(d) rules, and the TDCA/FDCPA counterclaims all remain available across tiers — but the deadline and the pleading formality change with the tier, so identify it before you draft.

A handful of debt buyers account for the bulk of consumer-debt lawsuits in Texas. Brief overview, with internal links to dedicated Texas plaintiff guides.

LVNV Funding LLC (Sherman Financial Group / Resurgent Capital Services). LVNV holds the debt on paper; Resurgent Capital Services in Greenville, SC services it. The multi-layer corporate structure (Sherman Originator III → Sherman Acquisition → Resurgent → LVNV) creates particular weakness under Rule 508.2(b)'s full chain-of-assignment requirement — each link in the Sherman chain must be individually identified with dates, and most Texas LVNV petitions present only a generic portfolio bill of sale. Texas Constitution Article XVI § 28 limits LVNV's post-judgment enforcement to bank levies and property liens, not wage execution. See /blog/lvnv-funding-suing-me-texas.

Midland Credit Management (Encore Capital Group, NASDAQ:ECPG), the largest US debt buyer by acquisition volume, files in Texas under both Midland Funding LLC (holder) and Midland Credit Management (servicer). Two regulatory tracks are relevant and must not be conflated. First, a Texas-specific track: in July 2011 the Texas Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division filed an enforcement action in Harris County District Court against Midland Funding, Midland Credit Management, and Encore Capital Group targeting robo-signed affidavits in Texas collection lawsuits, settled for a $500,000 fine plus affidavit- and documentation-practice reforms plus consumer relief. Texas did NOT join the separate 2018 multistate Encore/Midland Assurance of Voluntary Compliance — the 2011 Abbott action is Texas's own, earlier, state-specific track. Second, federal CFPB enforcement applies nationwide: In re Encore Capital Group, Inc., 2015-CFPB-0022 ($52M total) and CFPB v. Encore Capital Group, Case No. 3:20-cv-01750 (S.D. Cal.) ($15M penalty plus redress), together documenting time-barred suits and missing time-barred-debt disclosures. These records document the affidavit-and-documentation patterns Midland's Texas Justice Court petitions still reflect: Rule 508.2 itemization of post-charge-off interest and per-link chain of assignment are frequently omitted, and both are affirmative defenses when missing. See /blog/midland-credit-management-suing-me-texas and /blog/cfpb-encore-midland-portfolio-recovery-enforcement.

Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA Group, NASDAQ:PRAA), headquartered in Norfolk, VA, is one of the two largest US debt buyers. It is subject to a 2015 CFPB consent order ($19M consumer redress + $8M civil money penalty) and a 2023 follow-up ($24M settlement) — twin orders documenting systematic documentation failures that map directly onto Rule 508.2's disclosure requirements. The § 392.307(d) no-revival rule applies to PRA as a debt-buyer plaintiff: once the four-year SOL has run, no payment or activity PRA can point to will restart it. See /blog/portfolio-recovery-associates-suing-me-texas.

Cavalry SPV, Jefferson Capital Systems, Velocity Investments, Crown Asset Management, CACH LLC, and Plaza Services LLC (the Atlanta-based debt buyer that was the plaintiff in the Wisconsin case above) also file in Texas. Regardless of which plaintiff is suing you, the four-defense framework applies: SOL under § 16.004(a)(3) with the § 392.307(d) categorical no-revival rule; Rule 508.2 disclosures plus the Rule 91a dismissal vehicle plus the 803(6) foundation split; the Texas Debt Collection Act; and the federal FDCPA. The names change; the playbook does not.

Concrete, sequential steps. The schedule assumes a Justice Court case with the 14-day Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(d) deadline. If you are in County or District Court, you have more time (the Rule 99(b) Monday-after-20 deadline), but the substance of the work is the same — start it the same day.

Days 1-2 — Read the citation and petition carefully. Identify (a) the named plaintiff; (b) the alleged amount; (c) the court tier from the case caption (Justice Court ≤ $20K / County Court at Law / District Court); (d) the cause number; (e) the date of service from the return of citation; (f) your Answer deadline. In Justice Court, count 14 calendar days from service and cross-check against the due date printed on the citation. Calendar the deadline in two places, and set an internal working deadline at Day 10 or 11. If a cardholder agreement is attached as an exhibit, check it for an arbitration clause now — if one is present, plan to file a Motion to Compel early, before substantive engagement on the merits.

Days 3-4 — Do not ignore it, do not call the plaintiff, and do not pay anything before checking the deadline and the SOL. Inside the four-year window, a partial payment can affect the accrual analysis; the § 392.307(d) no-revival rule protects you only AFTER the SOL has expired and only when the plaintiff is a debt buyer. Identify which defenses may apply: last payment more than four years ago (SOL + § 392.307(d) if the plaintiff is a debt buyer); a Justice Court petition missing Rule 508.2(b) disclosures (Rule 91a / affirmative defense); documented collection misconduct or a false representation (TDCA / FDCPA).

Days 5-7 — Gather records. Pull all three credit reports free at AnnualCreditReport.com and find the original creditor name on the tradeline. Compare it to the plaintiff named on the petition — almost always different in a debt-buyer case. Note the state where the original creditor administered the account. Pull every account statement, demand letter, settlement offer, and call log, and build a timeline. Run the four-year SOL math from your last-payment date. Check whether the petition includes the charge-off balance, itemized post-charge-off interest and fees, the assignment chain with dates and names, and a current-ownership statement.

Days 8-11 — Decide between a Rule 91a motion and an Answer, and draft. A Rule 91a motion to dismiss may fit when the Rule 508.2 disclosures are facially missing and you can meet the 60-day / 21-day timing — but Justice Courts often grant leave to amend on a first violation, so it is a strong issue, not an automatic win. An Answer is appropriate otherwise, and you can plead the 508.2 defects and lack of standing as affirmative defenses within it. For a Justice Court Answer, the Rule 502.5(b) general denial places the plaintiff's allegations at issue, but still add your supported affirmative defenses by inclusion: SOL under § 16.004(a)(3) (with § 392.307(d) if the plaintiff is a debt buyer and the claim is time-barred), failure to satisfy Rule 508.2, and lack of standing. Add TDCA and FDCPA counterclaims only where specific conduct supports them.

Days 12-14 — File. E-file through eFileTexas.gov, or file in person at the Justice of the Peace clerk's office for your precinct (or the County/District Court clerk if the case is in those tiers). Do not rely on mail filing close to the deadline. Pay the filing fee or file a Tex. R. Civ. P. 145 Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. Serve a copy on the plaintiff's attorney by certified mail with a Certificate of Service. Answered does not file Texas cases for you — you review, sign, file, and serve your own documents. File by Day 10 or 11, never Day 14.

After your Answer: in County/District Court, serve discovery targeting the chain of title (assignment documents and account-level schedules); watch for Rule 508.2 / chain-of-title / foundation gaps that support a no-evidence motion for summary judgment under Rule 166a(i); and negotiate from strength once a real TDCA + FDCPA counterclaim is on file. If arbitration was compelled, monitor the AAA business-fee compliance window and prepare the post-decline motion to dismiss.

Texas combines meaningful debtor protections with unusually pro-se-friendly Justice Court procedure. Four features stand out.

First, Texas Constitution Article XVI § 28 categorically bars garnishment of current wages for ordinary consumer-debt judgments. New York caps wage execution at 10% of gross; California, Florida, Ohio, and most states use the federal 25%-of-disposable cap. Texas has a constitutional categorical bar — one of the strongest current-wage protections in the country. It does not protect every asset (non-exempt bank deposits and property remain reachable), and it does not make a default harmless, but it changes the post-judgment collection calculus dramatically.

Second, Tex. Fin. Code § 392.307(d) is the strongest post-expiry no-revival rule in the country. Once the four-year SOL has run on a debt-buyer claim, no payment, promise, or other activity revives it — categorically, by force of statute. California's CCP § 360 still lets a signed written promise revive; Ohio applies common-law revival; Texas closed the door for debt buyers entirely. A defendant who paid a debt buyer after expiry has not lost the SOL defense.

Third, Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(b) gives Justice Court defendants a simplified general-denial Answer path found in no other state in this registry. A short general denial places the plaintiff's allegations at issue without paragraph-by-paragraph analysis, while affirmative defenses are preserved by inclusion. Paired with the Rule 508.2(b) disclosure requirements and the Rule 91a dismissal vehicle (the Texas demurrer analog), Justice Court gives a prepared pro se defendant real pleading-stage leverage.

Fourth, the Texas Debt Collection Act reaches both debt buyers AND original creditors under § 392.001(7), where the federal FDCPA generally excludes original creditors — and § 392.403 supplies uncapped $100-per-violation statutory damages plus fees. The TDCA and FDCPA stack cumulatively, and combined exposure on a defeated debt-buyer claim often exceeds the value of the underlying debt.

The trade-offs, stated honestly. The 14-day Justice Court deadline under Rule 502.5(d) is short and unforgiving — the single biggest risk in a Texas case is defaulting because you underestimated the clock. Justice Court discovery is limited under Rule 500.9, so some proof-fighting moves are harder there than in County or District Court. The Rule 91a.7 fee provision has been discretionary since the 2019 amendment, so a denied 91a motion carries real cost exposure. And the Tex. R. Evid. 803(6) foundation defense is district-dependent: strong in the 5th (Dallas) and 8th (El Paso) districts, weak in the 1st (Houston), and variable in the other eleven. Bottom line: Texas has genuinely useful protections, and the 14-day urgency is the price of admission — start the day you are served.

You have time — barely, but enough. Texas's 14-day Justice Court deadline under Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(d) is short, but it is enough time to read the petition, identify your defenses, draft a competent Answer (a Rule 502.5(b) general denial with affirmative defenses added by inclusion), and file. The default-judgment outcome is entirely avoidable as long as you do not ignore the citation.

You have defenses. The four-defense framework — SOL under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.004(a)(3) with the categorical § 392.307(d) no-revival rule; the Rule 508.2(b) pleading disclosures with the Rule 91a dismissal vehicle and the Tex. R. Evid. 803(6) foundation split; the Texas Debt Collection Act under §§ 392.001-392.404; and the federal FDCPA under 15 U.S.C. § 1692 — defeats or pressures most Texas debt-buyer cases when the facts support it.

You have leverage. Texas Constitution Article XVI § 28 categorically protects your wages. Section 392.307(d) is the strongest no-revival rule in the country. Rule 502.5(b) gives you a simplified pleading path no other state offers. The TDCA reaches conduct the FDCPA cannot, and the two stack. Combined damages exposure on a defeated debt-buyer claim often exceeds the value of the underlying debt — which is the structural reason many Texas debt-buyer cases settle once a real counterclaim is on file.

A candid note on what is proven and what is not. The arbitration playbook above is transferable and grounded in the Texas Arbitration Act, but no completed Texas trial-court case has validated the full sequence end-to-end in a debt-buyer context — the case I personally won was Plaza Services LLC v. DiSalle in Wisconsin. Results in any specific Texas case depend on the cardholder agreement, the named plaintiff's litigation tolerance, the appellate district, and the assigned judge. Nothing here is a guarantee.

You are not the first person to defend a debt case pro se in Texas, and you will not be the last. The plaintiff is counting on you to ignore the citation or to default. Don't. File your Answer (or your Rule 91a motion or motion to compel arbitration, if those apply) inside the 14-day window. Raise your defenses. Do not pay anything until you have assessed the case.

Answered is self-help legal software, not a law firm, and it does not guarantee dismissal, settlement, or any specific court outcome. Get the free Texas debt-defense checklist at /sued-for-debt/texas. Start with the Full Defense Packet - $99: one unlock covers the court-ready self-help Answer, your full proof-issue report, filing and service checklists, workspace tools (deadline reminders, document organizer, hearing prep), and email support No subscription.

— John, founder of Answered