FightBackStrong

FightBackStrong / Texas

STATE LAW GUIDE

How to File an Answer 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

In justice court, a general denial is a complete answer. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5. It does not have to explain anything, and it does not cost you any defense.

What the rule actually says

"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 the defendant from raising any defense at trial." See Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5.

Two things follow. You are not required to produce a legal argument to be heard. And filing a general denial does not lock you into anything: every defense remains available later.

What the document must contain

The rule lists it. The answer must contain your name, and the name, address, telephone number and fax number of your attorney if you have one, or your own address, telephone number and fax number if you do not. If you consent to email service, it must say so and give your email contact information. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5.

You must file it with the court and serve a copy on the plaintiff. Your appearance is then noted on the court's docket. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5.

When it is due

The end of the 14th day after the day you were served. If that 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.

In district or county court instead: 10:00 a.m. on the Monday next after the expiration of twenty days after service. See Tex. R. Civ. P. 99.

Practical sequence

  1. Find the date you were served and write it on the envelope
  2. Count your deadline and write it somewhere you cannot miss
  3. Confirm the court, the case number and the deadline with the clerk
  4. Read their petition against what Tex. R. Civ. P. 508.2 requires, including the prior holders of the debt if it was assigned
  5. Write the answer: your details, a general denial, your signature
  6. File it with the court and serve a copy on the plaintiff
  7. Keep a dated copy of everything you send

Pull your credit reports while you wait

The dates drive everything that follows. The limitation period for a debt is four years. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.004. Your reports are free and they carry the date of first delinquency and the date of last payment.

One Texas comfort while you work it out

If the debt turns out to be time-barred and the plaintiff is a debt buyer, a payment or a reaffirmation does not revive the claim. See Tex. Fin. Code 392.307. And a verbal acknowledgement is not admissible to defeat limitations unless it is in writing and signed. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 16.065.

You still should not be discussing the debt before you have filed. But the usual fear of saying the wrong thing is smaller in Texas than almost anywhere.

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.