If you are being sued by a credit card company in Florida, you have 20 calendar days from the day you were served to file a written response with the court. Miss that deadline and the court can enter a default judgment for the full amount claimed without ever hearing your side. File on time, raise the right defenses, and you keep every option open: dismissal, settlement for a fraction of the balance, or protection of your paycheck under Florida’s unusually strong wage exemption.
Read the Summons and Complaint First
You will receive two documents. The Summons is the court’s notice that a lawsuit has been filed and that you must respond. The Complaint lays out what the plaintiff claims you owe, why they say you owe it, and what they want the court to do.
Go through the Complaint paragraph by paragraph. Note the account number, the alleged balance, and the date they say you stopped paying. Then look hard at the plaintiff’s name at the top. If it is the bank that issued your card, you are being sued by the original creditor. If it is a name like Midland Credit Management, Portfolio Recovery Associates, or CACH LLC, a debt buyer purchased your account for a fraction of the balance and is now trying to collect the full amount. That distinction changes your defense.
The 20-Day Deadline
Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.140(a) gives you 20 calendar days from the date of service to file your written response. The clock starts the moment the process server hands you the papers, not when you open them. Weekends and holidays count, but if day 20 lands on a weekend or legal holiday, you get until the next business day.
This is the single most important date in the case. If you file nothing, the credit card company can ask the clerk to enter a default against you. Once that happens, the court can enter a final judgment for the full amount claimed, including interest and attorney’s fees.1Florida Courts. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 1.500 Defaults and Final Judgments Thereon A judgment lets the creditor pursue a continuing writ of garnishment against your wages, meaning your employer withholds a portion of each paycheck until the debt is satisfied.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 77.0305 – Continuing Writ of Garnishment Against Salary or Wages They can also levy bank accounts and place liens on property you own.
If you already missed the deadline, you may still be able to ask the court to set aside the default. Florida Rule 1.540(b) allows relief based on mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, fraud, or a void judgment. The motion generally must be filed within one year, and the court will weigh whether you had a legitimate reason for not responding and whether you have a viable defense. The longer you wait, the harder it gets.
Writing Your Answer
Your written response is called an Answer. For each numbered allegation in the Complaint, you do one of three things: admit it, deny it, or state that you lack enough information to admit or deny. When in doubt, deny or claim lack of knowledge. Admitting a fact locks it in for the rest of the case, and any allegation you fail to address can be treated as admitted.
Affirmative Defenses to Include
Florida Rule 1.110(d) requires you to raise certain defenses in your responsive pleading or lose them.3The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 1.110 General Rules of Pleading The ones that matter most in credit card cases:
Statute of limitations. Florida applies a five-year limitations period for lawsuits based on a written contract and a four-year period for obligations not based on a written instrument. Most credit card lawsuits involve a signed or accepted cardholder agreement, which courts generally treat as a written instrument subject to the five-year deadline. If no written agreement can be produced, the four-year period may apply. The clock typically starts when you last made a payment or when you breached the agreement.4Florida Senate. Florida Code 95.11 – Limitations Other Than for the Recovery of Real Property
Lack of standing. A debt buyer must prove it actually owns your specific account by showing a complete chain of assignments from the original creditor through every subsequent sale. Debt buyers often attach a generic bill of sale covering thousands of accounts without proving yours was included. If the plaintiff cannot produce account-specific purchase records or the original cardholder agreement, that weakness belongs in your Answer. Standing challenges are far less effective against original creditors, who usually have direct access to the records.
Incorrect amount. The balance claimed may include charges, fees, or interest the creditor cannot verify.
Payment or accord and satisfaction. You already paid the debt or reached a prior settlement.
Raise every defense that could possibly apply. If you leave one out and try to bring it up at trial, the court can refuse to consider it.
Filing and Serving the Answer
Florida uses a statewide electronic filing system at myflcourtaccess.com.5Florida Supreme Court. About the E-Filing Portal E-filing is mandatory for attorneys and available to self-represented parties; some courthouses still accept paper filings at the clerk’s window, so call to confirm. Filing fees run roughly $50 to $400 depending on the county and the amount in dispute. If you cannot afford the fee, file a motion asking the court to waive it based on financial hardship.
After filing, send a copy of your Answer to the plaintiff’s attorney by email or mail using the address on the Complaint. Include a certificate of service confirming the date and method of delivery, and file that certificate with the court too.
Florida’s Head-of-Family Wage Protection
This is where many Florida defendants have more leverage than they realize. Under Florida Statute 222.11, if you qualify as a “head of family,” your wages may be entirely shielded from garnishment by a credit card judgment creditor.6The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 222.11 – Exemption of Wages from Garnishment
You qualify as head of family if you provide more than half the financial support for a child or other dependent. If you do:
- Disposable earnings of $750 per week or less are entirely exempt. A credit card judgment creditor cannot touch them.
- Disposable earnings above $750 per week still cannot be garnished unless you previously signed a specific written waiver. The waiver must be in a separate document attached to the credit agreement, printed in at least 14-point type, and explicitly explained by the creditor. Very few consumer credit card agreements include this waiver.
Even if you do not qualify as head of family, federal law caps garnishment for ordinary consumer debts at 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($217.50), whichever is less. If your weekly take-home pay is $217.50 or less, none of it can be garnished.
Exempt earnings deposited into a bank account remain exempt from levy for six months as long as the funds can be traced back to wages. Mixing them with other money in the same account doesn’t automatically destroy the exemption, but it makes tracing harder. If garnishment is a concern, keep your wages in a separate account.
Social Security benefits are also protected from garnishment by private creditors under Section 207 of the Social Security Act, with limited exceptions for federal tax debts and child support.7Social Security Administration. SSR 79-4 Levy and Garnishment of Benefits
The practical effect: if your wages are fully exempt, a judgment against you may be close to uncollectible. Creditors know this, and it pulls settlement offers down sharply.
Counterclaims for Collection Abuse
Two laws regulate how creditors and collectors can treat you, and if either has been violated, you can raise it as a counterclaim in the same lawsuit.
The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies only to third-party debt collectors, not to original creditors collecting their own debts.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1692a – Definitions If a debt buyer or collection agency is suing you, the FDCPA governs their conduct. Common violations include calling before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., misrepresenting the amount owed, threatening actions they have no authority to take, and failing to validate the debt within five days of first contact. A successful counterclaim can bring up to $1,000 in statutory damages plus actual damages and attorney’s fees.
Florida’s Consumer Collection Practices Act is broader. It prohibits abusive collection conduct by any person, which means it reaches original creditors as well as debt collectors.9Florida Senate. Florida Code 559.72 – Prohibited Practices Generally It bars threats of violence, profane language, contacting your employer before obtaining a judgment (unless you consented in writing), and attempting to collect a debt the creditor knows is not legitimate. If the credit card company or its lawyers crossed any of these lines during collection, you have grounds for a counterclaim even against the original creditor.
Settling the Case
Most credit card lawsuits never reach trial. Settlement offers typically fall between 30% and 80% of the outstanding balance, with most landing in the 50% to 70% range. Debt buyers tend to accept lower percentages because they bought the account for pennies on the dollar. Older delinquent accounts also settle for less, because the creditor would rather recover something than risk nothing if you file for bankruptcy.
What strengthens your position:
- The plaintiff’s documentation is thin. A debt buyer without clean chain-of-title records knows the case could be dismissed.
- Your financial picture is limited. Low income, few assets, or head-of-family protection lowers the creditor’s expected recovery and increases flexibility.
- You can offer a lump sum. One-time payments pull better numbers than installment plans.
Get any settlement in writing before paying anything. The agreement should state the total amount, confirm the remaining balance is forgiven, and specify that the lawsuit will be dismissed with prejudice so the creditor cannot refile.
The 1099-C Tax Catch
If a creditor forgives $600 or more of debt, they must report the cancelled amount to the IRS on Form 1099-C, and the IRS treats forgiven debt as taxable income.10Internal Revenue Service. About Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt Settle a $10,000 balance for $4,000 and you could owe income tax on the $6,000 forgiven.
The important exception: if you were insolvent at the time the debt was cancelled, meaning total debts exceeded total assets, you can exclude some or all of the forgiven amount from income by filing IRS Form 982 with your return.11Internal Revenue Service. What if I Am Insolvent? Many people being sued over credit card debt qualify without realizing it.
Bankruptcy If the Numbers Don’t Work
Filing for bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay that immediately halts the credit card lawsuit, along with wage garnishments and collection calls. The case is paused, not dismissed, while the bankruptcy court addresses your debts. Chapter 7 can eliminate credit card debt entirely if you qualify based on income. Chapter 13 lets you repay a portion over three to five years under a court-approved plan. A creditor can ask the bankruptcy court to lift the stay and let the lawsuit continue, but that is uncommon in straightforward credit card cases.
Bankruptcy has long-term credit consequences and makes sense only when the debt is large enough or your situation difficult enough to justify it. If a judgment is coming and your wages are not protected by the head-of-family exemption, it deserves serious thought.
After You File Your Answer
Filing keeps the case alive and forces the plaintiff to prove its claims. The case moves into discovery, where both sides can request documents and ask written questions. This is often where debt buyers run into trouble producing the original cardholder agreement, complete account statements, or a valid chain of assignment. The court may order mediation, which is nonbinding unless both sides agree. If no settlement is reached, the case moves toward trial, where the plaintiff carries the burden of proving the debt and the amount. Many credit card cases settle or are dismissed well before that, especially when defenses are solid and the plaintiff’s evidence is weak.