How will I know if a creditor takes me to court, or sues me?

Produced by Mariah Jennings-Rampsi, South Coastal Counties Legal Services, with funding from American College of Bankruptcy
Reviewed October 2019

You will know you are being sued when

a sheriff or constable delivers court papers to you or to someone at your home and the papers tell you about a case against you. This is sometimes called “being served”.
In small claims court cases, you can be served by certified mail.

The papers are called a summons and complaint. See What court papers will I get?

Feedback

form.antibot { display: none !important; } You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form.

Was the page helpful? *

Yes

Easy to understand?

Yes

Complete with enough details?

Yes

Please tell us why you did not find this helpful.

It does not answer my question.

It is wrong.

It is out of date.

It is too much to read.

It is confusing.

I do not like the answer.

Other.

How could we make it more helpful?

Leave this field blank

CAPTCHA

Please help us cut down on spam. Type the letters you see into the box below.

What code is in the image? *

Enter the characters shown in the image.

You may be able to get free legal help from your local legal aid program. Or email a question about your own legal problem to a lawyer.

More resources

If it's
Monday-Friday
between
9am - 12pm and 1pm - 4pm

View the results at Google