FightBackStrong / Texas
STATE LAW GUIDE
How Long Do I Have to Respond in Texas?
The Texas 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
It depends which court, and Texas uses a deadline unlike any other state.
| Court | Your deadline |
|---|---|
| Justice court | End of the 14th day after the day you were served |
| District or county court | 10:00 a.m. on the Monday next after twenty days have expired from service |
Most debt collection cases are filed in justice court, where the limit is $20,000. See Tex. Gov't Code 27.031.
The justice court deadline
The citation tells you directly: your answer is due by the end of the 14th day after the day you were served. If the 14th day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, it moves to the end of the first following day that is not. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 501.1.
Fourteen days is short. Count it the day the papers arrive.
The Monday rule, which trips people up
In district and county court the citation directs you to file a written answer on or before 10:00 a.m. on the Monday next after the expiration of twenty days after the date of service. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 99.
Read that carefully, because it is not "twenty days".
- Count twenty days from the date of service.
- Then go to the next Monday after that.
- Your deadline is 10:00 a.m. that morning, not the end of the day.
So the real deadline is usually later than twenty days, and it has a time of day attached. People who read "twenty days" and file on day twenty-one are usually still fine. People who think they have until close of business on that Monday are not.
What an answer has to be in justice court
Less than you think. An answer that denies all of the plaintiff's allegations without specifying the reasons is sufficient to constitute an answer or appearance, and does not bar you from raising any defense at trial. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5.
A general denial is a real answer. It preserves every defense. It does not require you to explain yourself, and filing it does not commit you to a position you have not thought through yet.
The answer must give your name and your address and telephone number, and a copy must be served on the plaintiff. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5.
What missing it costs, and one thing Texas does differently
A default judgment. But Texas does not simply hand it over.
Even on default in a debt claim case, the judge must render judgment upon the plaintiff's proof of the amount of damages, and that amount is established by evidence that the account was issued to you and you are obligated to pay it, that it was closed or breached, of the amount due after all credits and offsets, and that the plaintiff owns the account and how it acquired it. A judge is not required to accept a sworn statement. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 508.3.
That is more than most states require on a default. It is still not a reason to skip answering: you are relying on a judge to demand what you could have demanded yourself, and you will not be there to point out what is missing.
In summary
- Justice court: 14 days, end of day. Tex. R. Civ. P. 501.1
- District or county court: 10:00 a.m. the Monday after 20 days. Tex. R. Civ. P. 99
- A general denial is a sufficient answer in justice court. Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5
- Justice court handles claims up to $20,000. Tex. Gov't Code 27.031
Citations are read from the Texas Legislature's official statutes site and the Supreme Court of Texas rules, and recorded in the site's citation registry.