Frequently Asked Questions

Debt Defender is our flat-fee defense for Georgia credit card, loan, and medical-bill lawsuits. We read your complaint, ask you a short set of questions, and prepare your Answer with every defense your facts support. In State and Superior Court we also prepare discovery to the Plaintiff, and a notice to produce and subpoena to the original creditor for its records. A licensed Georgia attorney reviews every pleading before it is filed. There are two plans: Defender and Defender Pro.

Upload the complaint you were served and leave an email, and we send you a page you can keep and print: who is suing you and what kind of plaintiff it is, the amount claimed, the court you are in and what happens there, the standard defenses to this kind of suit by Georgia code section, and the discovery a defendant can serve. A second part applies the law to your complaint and opens when you choose a plan. Nothing is signed or paid to see any of it. It is general information prepared automatically, not legal advice, and no attorney has reviewed it; we become your lawyers only when you sign an agreement and we accept your matter. Any deadline shown is an estimate from the service date you type, never from the paper.

A default can usually still be opened as a matter of right within 15 days after the Answer was due, by paying the court costs (filing fees). Both plans can handle it. On Defender, the opening-default papers are a one-time $250 add-on, and you file them and pay the court's costs. On Defender Pro, a one-time $250 fee is paid before we accept a late case, and we file the papers with your Answer. After those 15 days it is much harder, so act now.

Georgia lawsuits over credit card debt, personal or installment loans, auto loan deficiencies, payday or short-term loans, hospital or medical debt, and car title loans. It does not cover foreclosures or evictions, and it is for cases in Georgia courts. If your case is not a fit, we will tell you and point you to other help.

A reviewed Answer prepared from your facts and your complaint; discovery to the Plaintiff and a subpoena to the original creditor where your court allows it; an analysis of possible collector violations (FDCPA and FCRA) delivered to you; and, on Defender, a filing kit that walks you through printing, signing, serving, and filing, plus a trial-day guide for court. You also get a Client Portal with your pleadings, deadlines, documents, and messages, with reminders by email.

The complaint and the documents you were served with; a photo or PDF is fine. We read the complaint first and show you what it says before we ask who you are, then you choose a plan with the fee for your claim beside each. It takes about three minutes, and nothing is signed or paid until later.

We check what the file is before anything is kept. If it is a letter from a debt collector or a court order rather than a lawsuit complaint, we say so and point you to the free page built for that paper where one is available: ValiDebt's free notice analysis for a collector's letter, Second Look's free order recap for an order. Nothing from the wrong page is saved.

Not for the Answer or the attorney review: those are the same in Magistrate, State and Superior Court. It matters for discovery. In State and Superior Court we also prepare discovery to the Plaintiff (interrogatories, requests for documents and for admissions, and a deposition notice) and a notice to produce and subpoena to the original creditor for its records. In Magistrate Court, where that written discovery is not available, we prepare the notice to produce for trial. Your complaint says which court you are in, and we read it for you.

We analyze every complaint for possible collector violations under the FDCPA and FCRA and deliver what we find to you. Preserving and pursuing those claims, such as a counterclaim in your Answer, and litigating them is part of Defender Pro. On Defender, your Answer can include a counterclaim for a one-time $250 add-on once your draft is ready; litigating it is Defender Pro.

The same way as in Second Look: AI-assisted tools do the first pass, reading your complaint and drafting from your answers, and a licensed Georgia attorney reviews and approves every pleading before it goes out. The attorney is accountable for the result. The tools change how fast we can help, not who is responsible.

We keep the complaint and the email so the page can be shown to you and so, if you sign up, you do not upload the complaint again. If you do not continue, the analysis, the complaint and your email are deleted 30 days after you asked for it. The complaint is sent to the AI service we use to read it. We send one email with the link to your analysis, and we do not email you about it again.

With Defender, you are self-represented: the pleadings go out in your name, you sign and file them with our filing kit, you handle the Plaintiff's lawyer, and you go to court yourself with our trial-day guide. We remind you of deadlines, but they are yours to meet, and there is no attorney messaging. With Defender Pro, a Georgia attorney represents you: our name is on the pleadings, we sign, file, and serve everything, we deal with the Plaintiff's lawyer and negotiate for you, and we appear in court for you. Defender Pro also includes preserving and pursuing collector-violation claims, such as a counterclaim, and direct messaging with your attorney.

The fee is flat* and depends on the amount the Plaintiff claims. Defender is $250 if the claim is $10,000 or less and $500 if it is over. Defender Pro is $750 if the claim is $5,000 or less and $1,500 if it is over. Court filing fees, service fees, and other third-party costs are billed separately at cost.

We are giving our first Georgia clients, the Founding 50, either Debt Defender, our self-represented plan, if they have been sued, or a ValiDebt do-it-yourself validation letter, if a collector has written to them, at no charge, in return for honest feedback on how it works for you. The spots are shared between the two, and you choose one when you sign up. The free letter is the DIY letter only: mailing it for you and attorney review are separate, paid options. Signing up does not make us your lawyers. If you are one of the first 25, you will receive an email with a private link to start. If the lawsuit deadline is close, you can move straight to Defender Pro for immediate representation.

If we decline your case for any reason before we accept it, you get a full refund. On Defender Pro, if you retained us and gave us what we asked for in time, and we do not file your Answer by the court's deadline, we refund our fee. This is a promise about our service, not about how your case ends: no one can promise an outcome. Court and service fees, and costs already paid to others, are billed separately and are not covered.

Not in your court case. On Defender, an attorney reviews your pleadings before they are filed, but the firm does not appear for you, sign for you, or speak for you to the Plaintiff's lawyer or the court, and submitting information does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship for the lawsuit. If you want an attorney to take over, move to Defender Pro.

Yes, at any time, including right before a hearing. It is the same case and the same file. Your Defender fee is credited in full and you pay only the difference. Court and other third-party costs are still billed at cost, and you sign a representation agreement before we appear for you.

On Defender, yes: you appear for yourself, and our trial-day guide explains what to bring and what to expect. On Defender Pro, we appear for you. Many cases in Magistrate Court end before trial once a real defense is on file, but we cannot promise any outcome.

No. Results are never guaranteed, and a defense does not erase a debt you owe. What it does is hold the Plaintiff to its proof: it must show it owns the debt, the amount, and that it sued in time. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.