Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

There are different ways to approach this, but I recommend examining the bigger picture: often a single lawsuit is merely symptomatic of a larger burden of debt. A low-flat-rate and fast bankruptcy-filing can eliminate such a lawsuit in one fell swoop and put the lid on the coffin of all one's debt.

This answer (as well as our Web site) doesn�t address all facts & implications of the question; it�s general info, not legal advice to be relied upon; it creates no attorney-client relationship; it may be pertinent to CA only; it�s independent of other answers. Hire legal counsel before acting or refraining from bankruptcy/legal action.

It depends on whether you have a good defense to the case. The most common valid defenses include: it's not your debt (for example you are only an authorized user on someone else's credit card); the debt is too old (over 4 years from your last payment). The lawsuit may have been filed by a junk debt buyer (not the original credit card issuer) who doesn't really own the debt. If any of these apply, please do get a lawyer or contact me directly. I often represent clients with valid defenses for very reasonable fees. If, however, it is a valid debt from within the last 4 years, ask yourself whether you would be throwing good money after bad by defending the case. If you have multiple or very large debts, consult an attorney about possibly filing for bankruptcy thereby wiping-out the debt (and the lawsuit)..

If you are abolutely positively sure that it is not your debt then it may be worth fighting for. But depending on the amount of money complained for, you may or may not want to defend the lawsuit because it may cost you the same or more amount of money to defend the lawsuit. Filing bankruptcy can very likely eliminate the debt and the lawsuit. Consult a bankruptcy attorney for advice.