2 1/2 years ago I lost my job. I went 8 months with no income at all. I am now working but only part time. I had a credit card that I had to stop making payments on because I had no income. I can barely make my mortgage payments and put food on the table for me and my son. I received a citation from the justice court threatening me that if I do not respond, a default judgment will be taken against me. What does this mean? What should I do? Thank you for any help yo can give me.

You never ignore a summons! If you do, the plaintiff gets a default judgment which can be used to place a lien on your home, garnish wages, seize bank accounts and more.

There are several threads here that discuss what you should do. Browse around and if you have more questions ask.

Thank you so much for your prompt reply! Sorry, I got very busy at work and could not respond. I have done quite a bit of browsing, as you suggested, but still have questions I can't find answers to. The first part of the document says I have to reply, in writing and that I am "commanded to appear" before the judge on or before the Monday next after the expiration of 10 days from the date of service of the citation. Thing is it doesn't say what date it was served. It only has the date it was issued. The bottom part of it, where it says "Came to hand on the ____day of ___2011, at ___o'clock and executed within said County of Nueces on the ___day of ___2011, at ___o'clock by delivering to the within named____at _______in person, a true copy of this citation. and the rest of it - signature line, etc. isn't even filled out. The attached document says at the top "Cause No.___________________ - but there is no number in the blank. On that document it says plaintiff requests that defendant serve a written response within 50 days after service of the request for Production. Since there are so many blanks not filled in on this document is it even legit? Do I need to respond by the Monday after 10 days from the date it was issued since it does not say when it was served - or do I have 50 days? The reply is just a bunch of admit/deny statements. Some of them I don't know the answer to so I can't admit or deny them. Am I supposed to write a letter explaining my situation? Do I have to appear in person or can I mail it in? Sorry this is so long but I am completely lost here. Thank you so much for your help!

It may not be legitimate, it may be a scare tactic. There should be a listing specifying what court issued the summons. There should also be a docket number. You should, first, contact the court and verifying this is a valid summons for a valid suit.

If it is, then they can tell you the deadline to respond.