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Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Looking for your cour case online is like ^^

Summary: Trying to check your court case status in Idaho? Below is SoloSuit's guide on Idaho court case search tools, the state's court structure, and how to respond to a lawsuit in Idaho.

Are you concerned that you may have a lawsuit against you that you don't know about, or are you representing yourself and looking for additional information about the case? If you live in Idaho, you can usually find your court case online.

A quick Google search will reveal numerous search options, many of them paid, for finding your lawsuit. Skip past those because you do not need a third party to look up your case. Instead, Idaho provides the iCourt Portal, an online site for Idaho court records dating back to 1995.

What information will I need to access my Idaho lawsuit?

The iCourt Portal makes it easy to access Idaho court records. You can start your search with your name or your record number. If you have the record number, the search will be easier. However, the portal has a search by name function, so if you know the first and last name of the party being sued, you can find the case.

The information on the portal is available to the public under the Idaho Public Records Act. The act stipulates the right to access public records unless such records are deemed exempt from public disclosure. The Idaho Court Administrative Rule (ICAR) 32 protects sensitive information such as addresses, social security numbers, telephone numbers, and other identification numbers that are not available to the general public.

Understand Idaho's state court structure

Understanding Idaho's court system will making finding your case easier. In order to find your case online, or to go about contacting a court clerk to ask questions about your case, you must first know which court jurisdiction your case falls under.

Idaho is divided into six judicial districts, and those districts are further subdivided into magistrate divisions where debt collection lawsuits are heard. For a complete breakdown of the Idaho Court system, visit this overview to discover where your case would be filed.

You can also check out the court structure graphic below to learn about how Idaho's civil court structure works.

Idaho court structure

What if I can't find the lawsuit online?

If you know or strongly suspect that you have been sued but cannot find the records online, there are other ways to find out what has been filed with the court. If the lawsuit was recent, you might just need a bit of patience. It can take time for every case to make it onto the iCourt portal. Wait a few days and check again.

If it is still unavailable online, you may need to contact the court directly to ask for instructions on accessing the records. If the court case is not under your name, you may have to fill out an Open Records Request at the Clerk of Court's office.

Are you sure the lawsuit was filed in Idaho? The plaintiff may have had cause to claim the case belonged in another state court. Check the state records in the state that is the plaintiff's primary place of business or the state you lived in at the time of the debt. You can use SoloSuit's tool that lists each state's online record systems to search for states that might be candidates.

Why wasn't I notified of a lawsuit against me?

Perhaps you know that you have outstanding debts, but to avoid debt collectors, you screen your calls and let the mail pile up because you don't know what else to do. It's a human reaction to avoid stressful situations, but it can result in facing a default judgment because you missed the fact that you were being sued.

In Idaho, service of process by mail is allowed. Service of process can also occur at your primary residence, so if someone else signed for you, you might not have been notified that the papers had been delivered. You may also have sought to avoid the service of process hoping to prevent a lawsuit. Unfortunately, dodging a process server only delays the inevitable. For these reasons, don't avoid being served court documents.

What do I do if I find a lawsuit against me?

There are few events in life more unsettling than realizing you are being sued. The most important first step is to recognize that this is something you cannot ignore. Take action immediately to avoid the defendant winning a default judgment against you because you failed to respond to the suit. In Idaho, you have 21 days after service to file an Answer with the court.

If you do not file an Answer, and the debt collector can prove the debt is valid, they may be awarded a Motion for Summary Judgment. Such a motion gives the plaintiff (the debt collector) the right to garnish your wages or seize your bank account to satisfy the amount owed. The only guaranteed way to lose a lawsuit is when you fail to respond.

Being sued for a debt is scary, but remember, creditors often lose the lawsuits they bring against debtors. Debt is sold or farmed out to debt collection agencies, and valuable information is often lost in the transition. If the entity that is suing you can't prove the debt is valid, then you stand a strong chance of winning the lawsuit.

The first step is to file a written Answer, which SoloSuit makes simple with its step-by-step process that only requires you to answer a few simple questions. If the lawsuit is a debt collection suit, know your options. You may be able to file a Motion to Compel Arbitration, which would move the suit out of the courtroom and into mandatory arbitration.

Check out this video to learn more about how to respond to a debt collection lawsuit:

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

Respond with SoloSuit

"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate