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You may be served with papers informing you that you have been sued. Look through the papers to see if the plaintiff (the creditor) filed an affidavit, making it a Suit on a Sworn Account.  This means that they have sworn, under oath, that their claims against you are true - that is, that you do, in fact, owe the debt that they claim you owe. Basically, the creditor is suing you for not paying them for what they sold you. 

If the creditor filed a Suite on a Sworn Account and you feel that you do not owe what they claim you owe, you are required to swear to a written denial that you owe them money.  You do this by filing an affidavit with the court, which is your written, signed oath that your answer is truthful. You should only do this if you truly do not owe the debt, or if they have not stated the correct amount of the debt. If you wrongfully claim that you do not owe the money, you could be committing a crime called perjury.   If you do owe the debt, you should write a letter to the court and explain your situation and why you can't pay this debt at this time.  You should send a copy of this letter to the opposing counsel.  You should make sure that you put the docket number of the lawsuit, i.e.,  the long number on the top of the first page of the Plaintiff's Original Petition, on your letter so the court will know which suit you are writing about.  You do not have long to file your affidavit or write your letter to the court after you are sued.  You only have about 20 days from the date you are served to file your Answer or letter, so do not delay.
 
After you have been sued, you may also receive several documents:  Request for Disclosures, Interrogatories, Request for Production of Documents and Things, and Request for Admissions. If you read through these requests, you will see a list of questions from the creditor asking you to tell them what people, papers and things you'll be bringing to the hearing to support your answer.  They may also ask you to state your view of the facts of the matter.  And they may also ask you to give them copies of certain papers (checks or receipts), or allow them to inspect certain things (goods they sold you).  You must answer these questions as fully and as truthfully as you can, and allow them to see the papers and things, by the dates given on the requests.  If you don't, the court could rule for your creditor. 
 
After the court receives your answer/affidavit or letter, it will send you a letter telling you the time, date, and place of your hearing. YOU MUST SHOW UP FOR THE HEARING.  If you don't show up for the hearing, the court could rule for your creditor.  Please be aware that showing up for the hearing is not the same as filing an answer.  You must do both, or risk losing in court.  It would be wise to get there early.  Bring all the people who will be speaking for you, and all the papers and things that you will be using to support your case.  (Such as bills you received, checks you wrote, or damaged goods.)  At the hearing, the creditor will get to speak first.  When they have finished, you will be allowed to ask them questions you might have about what was said or shown to support their case.  Then you will get your turn to speak.  When you have finished, the creditor will be allowed to ask questions about what was said or shown to support your case.  When both sides have nothing further to say or show and no more questions, the court will make a decision.  It would be a good idea to write down what you want to say before going to the hearing.
 
The creditor may get a judgment against you, which is an order by the court for you to pay the debt plus court costs, interest and attorney fees.  The court will send you a notice telling you how much you owe and when the payments are due.  But if you cannot pay the debt, the creditor cannot take your home, your household goods, your car, put you in jail or send your children to foster care.  If they cannot collect the money from you, they will likely file an Abstract or Judgment in the county land records office.  This means they will have a claim called a lien to the money you make if you sell any home or land that you own.  The lien lasts for ten years and can be renewed.  The Abstract of Judgment is only meant to allow the creditor to collect what you have been ordered to pay them.  It does not allow them to foreclose on or take your home or land.  But it could make it difficult for you to sell your home or land.  It could also make it hard for you to borrow money and could hurt your credit rating.  Even so, you should not sacrifice your basic needs (food, housing, utilities, medicines, transportation, etc.) trying to pay the judgment.