How do I answer a complaint

I suggest that you contact the San Diego Bar Association. They will refer you to a lawyer who will meet with you for 30 minutes at no charge. I would also ask the San Diego Bar Association to refer you to a legal assistance organization that might be able to provide you with free or reduced rate services. It is very difficult to prepare a competent answer to a complaint. The Judicial Council provides a form, but you need to know about affirmative defenses in order to fully complete the form correctly. If the complaint is for breach of contract, the most likely correct form for you to use is PLD-C-010. Be sure to have a lawyer review your answer before filing it. Here is the link to the Judicial Council forms: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms. Another approach is to contact the creditor, advise them of your financial situation, and try to resolve the case with a payment plan before you have to answer the complaint. Best of luck to you.

I know you hope to resolve this without hiring a lawyer, but Mr. Ginn gives you good advice. Once you are sued, you are best hiring a lawyer. Please be advised that you only have a short period of time to answer the complaint once you've been served, so you need to act quickly in order to avoid waiving your defenses or having a default judgment entered against you. Even if you want to settle the matter, you may be better off hiring a lawyer to help you negotiate the settlement and a dismissal of the lawsuit. Again, you want to preserve your defenses. A lawyer can also help you negotiate a more favorable settlement than you might get on your own. You also want to make sure that the settlement is binding and the dismissal is with prejudice so that you will not end up being sued again at a later date.