defend the suit
I would immediately file a notification to the court that you plan on defending this.
These bottom-dwelling debt buyers are retarded, and the majority of them file lawsuits that cannot stand up under any type of scrutiny.
If your local court has a CM/ECF system (electronic filing system) and they allow non-attorneys to get a login, by all means, get one, and start doing research by searching on the name of the plaintiff. Then, research as many cases as you have time for, and find defenses that have worked.
I recently researched a large number of cases for a relative, and I noticed a pattern where just filing an "intent to show-up at the hearing" notice, and actually showing up, was enough to get the case dismissed WITH prejudice(ie they lose the case forever, and cant refile). These scumballs seldom actually fight these lawsuits --- they just hope to win default judgments, and hope they can collect from most of them.
I didn't do the math or anything, but just not-defaulting seems to give you a **HUGE** mathematical chance of winning. Something like 90% of the people who tried to defend their case ended up eventually settling or getting the case dismissed. Those who used lawyers or used REAL defenses (either substantive (aka they provided proof they didnt owe it) or technical (where the lawyers made a mistake in filing the complaint) ) won 100% of the time. It's really amazing. and across like 300-400 cases, this is not a fluke. at least not against one plaintiff.
Research your state laws that discuss "insufficient specificity in the pleading" ...... usually these dirtbags don't have all the information they actually need to file. You can file a "preliminary objection" to the complaint, and force them to amend the complaint. Usually they have limited time to do so (30 days, it seems), and many judges will dismiss with prejudice if they go over the time...... It seems once you beat the first complaint, the lawyers give up. I noticed many cases where the case got settled after the first complaint was beat.
Contact the local lawyers associations if you aren't up to task. Some provide free or greatly-reduced fees for people that can't afford or disabled people.
Defaulting on the suit will make you a loser everytime. Dont default. Incidentally, if you happened to default, definitely go find a lawyer. It seems judges don't like to default and will often overturn/reverse them if you haven't gone too far over.
good luck