small claims response

upon receiving a summons as defendant in a small claims collection case the summons states that i have "30 calendar days after summons is served to file a typewritten response to the court" in which " the typewritten response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case." try as i may i cannot find any information on how to respond in proper legal form nor can i find anything relating to this or any help for the defendant. it all seems to be geared to the plaintiff and informing them as to proper court procedure. can anyone enlighten me as to the "proper legal form" of such a response as a defendant? thank you for any info... jb999

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face=" Arial, Verdana, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jb999:
upon receiving a summons as defendant in a small claims collection case the summons states that i have "30 calendar days after summons is served to file a typewritten response to the court" in which " the typewritten response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case." try as i may i cannot find any information on how to respond in proper legal form nor can i find anything relating to this or any help for the defendant. it all seems to be geared to the plaintiff and informing them as to proper court procedure. can anyone enlighten me as to the "proper legal form" of such a response as a defendant? thank you for any info... jb999<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My response:

Since this is a Small Claim court action, go to the courthouse, and see the clerk at the filing window. She has forms called "Defendant's Response." Just fill them out as to why you don't owe the money, and any affirmative defenses you might have available. Hint: Go to a college law library and look at some forms books for some examples of "Affirmative Defenses" and also some example "Defendant's Responses". For example, in California, we would write:

"Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 431.30, Defendant denies the complaint in it's entirety, and further denies plaintiff is owed any sums whatsoever, or at all."

Then you would write your Affirmative Defenses. Then, when you're done, bring the forms back to court clerk, at the window, and have him / her file it.

Go, go, go. You don't have much time.

IAAL



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thank you for your very informative reply..i wish i had had this info before i let the 30 days go by without a response..my ignorance and fear kept me from responding...i would have not contested the debt. i know i owe it and i had made plans to make payments to the collection agency but the day before my first payment they called to harrass me and i got fed up and told them to never call me at work..his reply was he would take this to the next level..and he did..but they called me to settle the bill again well after the 30day limit and said they would quash the suit if i would fax them a check for 1/2 now and 1/2 later..he is charging me 291$ for fees that the summons says only $150 allowed for attorney's fees..i have not recieved a judgement from the court and am confused if i have lost or if there is a judgement at all..when i refused to fax a check to him his response was "enjoy your wage levee sir" and hung up.. can i go to the original owner of the debt being a local hospital and offer full payment by certified check? is it too late to do that?? thanks so much for your replies... jb999