Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

It Has Been Suggested?? Whoever is doing the suggesting doesn't know from their elbow.

How do you know you "cannot afford to deal with this," whatever that means? If you file a "general denial" without knowing what you're doing, you'll be waiving important defenses. You need to consult an attorney to see if you have any defenses. It may be that demanding proof of the debt will be enough to make them back down (junk debt buyers tend to go after the low hanging fruit). You have little to lose by defending the case; your court filing fee is maybe $200, I charge very reasonable fees for handling these types of cases, and if you win, your attorney fee and court filing fee will be fully refunded. There is no "future penalty" for fighting and losing except you would be liable for the judgment, which will happen anyway if you default.

I've found that various attorneys charge different fees and rates, that differ greatly. I know for example, that the attorneys for the Los Angeles Archidiocese charge $17,000 or more to file a demurrer, while that may only cost several hundred dollars for other attorneys.

Have you spoken to an attorney to find something workable, or are you just sitting at home and giving up without trying?

Filing a general denial does not prevent you from raising applicable defenses on the same form document. Go to the public library and look in a Nolo Press or other books about debt collection [or go to the local law library for better books but written in non-law person language] and see what debt defenses there are. I think this is about your 5th posting on the same matter and we can not spent that much time on just one person. You can try to see if the local legal aid society will help.