- Affirmative Defense
- A legal reason you should not lose, raised in your Answer. Examples include the debt being too old, or the plaintiff not proving it owns your account.
- Answer
- Your formal written response to the lawsuit. You admit or deny the claims and raise your defenses. Filing it keeps you in the case and avoids a default judgment.
- Arbitration
- A private way to resolve a dispute outside of court, using a neutral organization instead of a judge. Many card agreements allow it, and the company usually pays most of the fees.
- Bank Levy
- A legal grab of money from your bank account to satisfy a judgment. It generally cannot happen until the plaintiff has won a judgment against you.
- Certificate of Service
- A short statement at the end of a court document confirming that you sent a copy to the other side, and how. It is a normal, required part of filing.
- Chain of Title
- The paper trail showing how ownership of your account passed from the original creditor to whoever is suing you. Debt buyers must prove it, and it is often incomplete.
- Charge-off
- When the original creditor writes your account off as a loss on its books, usually after several months of non-payment. The debt still exists and is often sold to a debt buyer.
- Complaint
- The document that starts the lawsuit. It lists who is suing you, why, and how much they claim you owe. It usually arrives with the summons.
- Debt Buyer
- A company that buys portfolios of charged-off debt for a small fraction of the balance and then collects on them, including by suing. LVNV, Midland, and Portfolio Recovery are examples.
- Default Judgment
- A ruling against you that happens simply because you did not respond in time. It is the most common way people lose, and it is much easier to avoid than to undo.
- Defendant
- You, the person being sued.
- Discovery
- The stage where each side can request documents and information from the other, under oath. It is where you can force the plaintiff to produce proof it may not have.
- FDCPA
- The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a federal law that limits how debt collectors can behave. Violations can sometimes become a defense or a counterclaim.
- Garnishment
- A court-ordered deduction from your wages to pay a judgment. Like a bank levy, it generally requires the plaintiff to win first.
- Interrogatories
- Written questions you send the other side during discovery that they must answer under oath. A tool to make a debt buyer prove ownership and the amount.
- Motion to Compel Arbitration
- A formal request asking the court to send the case out of court and into arbitration, based on the arbitration clause in your agreement.
- Original Creditor
- The bank or lender you originally had the account with, before it was charged off or sold.
- Plaintiff
- The party suing you. In a debt case, it is usually a bank or a debt buyer.
- Pro Se
- Latin for representing yourself, without a lawyer. It is completely allowed, and common in debt cases.
- Service of Process
- The formal delivery of the lawsuit papers to you. If you were not served correctly under your state's rules, that can be a defense.
- Standing
- The plaintiff's legal right to bring the case. A debt buyer only has standing if it can prove it actually owns your specific account.
- Statute of Limitations
- A deadline on how long someone can sue you over a debt. It varies by state and debt type. If the debt is too old, that can be a defense.
- Stay
- A pause in the court case. When a court sends a case to arbitration, it usually stays the lawsuit while arbitration proceeds.
- Summons
- The official notice telling you that you are being sued and how long you have to respond. Your deadline is printed on it.
- 1099-C
- A tax form for canceled debt. If a creditor issued one, it arguably wrote the debt off, which can complicate its effort to also collect on it.