In any civil lawsuit, the burden of proof rests with the plaintiff. This means that when a debt collector sues you in court, she must prove that the debt exists; it's not necessary for you to convince the court of the opposite. The burden of proof in civil court is much lower than in criminal court. A debt collector can prove the debt's existence in several ways.
Your Failure to Plead
Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which are closely mirrored by the civil procedure codes of the states, your failure to file an answer within the time allowed after getting served will be treated as an admission of allegations in the plaintiff's complaint. If you fail to plead, the plaintiff can obtain a judgment against you by resting on the pleadings alone. As such, you will lose the case even if you could have put on an airtight defense. Only in very narrow circumstances will a court set aside its judgment and allow you to defend the case.
Requests For Admissions
Requests for admissions are another civil procedure tool that a plaintiff can use to win a case without a fight. Under the civil procedure codes of many states, the plaintiff can serve you with a set of statements that you are asked to admit or deny within a certain time period. You may be asked to admit or deny the authenticity of copies of documents attached to the request, or the plaintiff may again allege the facts set forth in the complaint. If you deny something that the plaintiff later proves to be true, you can be held responsible for the attorney fees incurred in proving the assertion. If you admit all of the key facts -- or if you fail to respond -- the plaintiff can obtain summary judgment against you.
Signed Agreement
Even if you file your answer on time and properly respond to any requests for admissions, a debt collector may be able to prove the existence of the debt by producing an account agreement signed by you or some other written evidence that you incurred the debt. If you sign up for a credit card or personal line of credit and charges are made against the account, for example, you will be responsible for those unless you can show you were the victim of identity theft and promptly took steps to notify the creditor.
Account History
The history of your account may also provide evidence that a debt exists and that it's yours. A lot of bill collection work involves collecting accounts where the debtor made at least some partial payment on the account; if you ever sent the creditor payments in response to a bill or statement, this will operate as an acknowledgement that the debt was yours. The court will likely reason that you wouldn't have made payments on an invalid debt.
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