If you have received a summons it means that you have been sued.
You must respond to the summons. If you don't respond, the creditor will obtain a default judgment and will then be able to garnish your wages and empty your bank account. In some states they can put a lien on your home.
You can either hire an attorney or you can do this yourself. If you decide to do it yourself, you will need to commit a fair amount of time to study in order to draft the various motions and such.
Asset Acceptance is an unsavory "junk debt buyer". They buy charged off debt from creditors and then try to collect it for more than they paid.
They have a reputation for suing and going for the default judgment. They also usually don't have the documentation to prove the debt when a consumer fights back in court.
The first thing you need to do is determine if the debt is ouside your state's statute of limitations. If so, you can defeat the lawsuit by filing a motion for dismissal on the basis of the debt being time barred. You will need to know two things to make this determination. When did you default (when was your last regular payment on the card)? My table says that the SOL for a credit card in Indiana is 6 years.
Assuming the debt is in statute, now that you have been sued, the burden of proof is on Asset Acceptance. However, they don't have to prove anything you don't demand. The judge is not there to protect you. The judge is there to make a decision based on what evidence is put before him. If you follow the right procedures and file the discovery motions, Asset Acceptance will have a hard time coming up with the documentation that will "prove" you owe anything.
You did not say how much money is involved. You will have to decide the cost-benefit equation for yourself.
