FightBackStrong

FightBackStrong / Oklahoma

STATE LAW GUIDE

How to File an Answer in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma rule, with the statute it comes from.

You are not the only one. Hundreds of thousands of these get filed every year, mostly against ordinary people who hit a bad stretch. Life gets messy. None of it makes you a bad person. It just makes you human.

They file these by the thousand. You are doing this once. That gap is the only real advantage they have, and it closes the moment you know what they have to prove. Learn it, use it, fight back strong.

The short answer

An answer is a short document, not an essay, and in Oklahoma the court clerk's fee schedule lists no charge for filing an answer. See 28 O.S. 152.1(A)(2), which sets a $20 fee for a counterclaim or setoff and lists none for an answer.

You have twenty days from service on the district court civil docket. See 12 O.S. 2012(A).

What goes in it

Oklahoma tells you what the court wants. For each thing the plaintiff alleges, you admit it, deny it, or say you lack knowledge.

That third option is the one people do not realise they have. A statement that you are without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief has the effect of a denial. See 12 O.S. 2008(B).

So if you have not been shown the statements, saying you lack the knowledge to admit or deny the balance is both truthful and a denial. You are not claiming the debt is fake. You are declining to agree to something nobody has shown you.

Affirmative defenses must be stated

Anything that is a defense even if their allegations were true has to be set out affirmatively in your responsive pleading, and the statute of limitations is specifically on that list. See 12 O.S. 2008(C).

If the account might be too old, say so in the answer. Not later.

Some defenses can go in a motion instead

Most defenses must be asserted in the responsive pleading, but certain ones may be raised by motion instead: lack of subject matter jurisdiction, lack of jurisdiction over the person, improper venue, insufficiency of process and insufficiency of service of process, among others. See 12 O.S. 2012(B).

Which matters because of the reservation of time trap. Filing a reservation of time to buy twenty extra days waives the defenses in paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9 of that subsection. See 12 O.S. 2012(A). If you were never properly served, that extension costs you the argument.

Signing it

Because you are not represented by an attorney, you sign it yourself, and the paper must state your address and telephone number. See 12 O.S. 2011(A).

By signing and filing it you are certifying that, after reasonable inquiry, it is not presented for an improper purpose and that your denials are warranted on the evidence or are reasonably based on a lack of information. See 12 O.S. 2011(B).

That is a real certification. It is also entirely compatible with denying things you have not been shown, which is exactly what the rule contemplates.

Serving it on the other side

If the plaintiff is represented by an attorney, service is made on the attorney, by delivering a copy or mailing it to the attorney's last known address, or by electronic means if the attorney has consented in writing. See 12 O.S. 2005(B).

The attorney's name and address are on the papers you were served with.

The practical sequence

  1. Find the deadline and count it, remembering the day of service does not count. See 12 O.S. 2006(A).
  2. Write the answer: admit, deny, or state lack of knowledge, paragraph by paragraph.
  3. Include affirmative defenses, the limitation period among them if it may apply.
  4. Sign it, with your address and telephone number.
  5. File it with the court clerk of the county named on your papers.
  6. Mail or deliver a copy to the plaintiff's attorney.
  7. Keep a dated copy of everything.

Small claims is different

On the small claims docket, no formal pleading other than the claim and notice is necessary. You do not file an answer to be heard. You appear. If you want to raise a counterclaim or setoff you file a verified answer, and that one carries the $20 fee. See 12 O.S. 1758 and 28 O.S. 152.1(A)(2).

But check first whether a debt buyer can be in small claims in Oklahoma at all: no action may be brought under the small claims procedure by any collection agency, collection agent, or assignee of a claim, except a health care provider assignee of insurance benefits. See 12 O.S. 1751(B).

Citations are read from the Oklahoma Legislature's official complete titles and recorded in the booklet's citation registry.