This article was written by Jennifer Mueller, JD. Jennifer Mueller is an in-house legal expert at wikiHow. Jennifer reviews, fact-checks, and evaluates wikiHow's legal content to ensure thoroughness and accuracy. She received her JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006.
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Receiving a summons for debt collection can be a terrifying thing. While you might be tempted to ignore it, that's not a good plan. If you ignore the summons, the creditor will get a default judgment against you, even though it's possible that you don't owe the debt, or that the company suing you doesn't have the right to collect it. Instead, draft an answer defending yourself and forcing the company to prove that you owe the debt. Then, if it's within your means to do so, call the company and try to settle the debt rather than going to court.