Can a defendant legally respond to a civil formal complaint denying “any and all allegations” when allegations include what should be indisputable facts such as their business name and location?

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Can a defendant legally respond to a civil formal complaint denying “any and all allegations” when allegations include what should be indisputable facts such as their business name and location?

If not, what step(s) can I take to compel a good faith response to the complaint?

Asked on October 25, 2015 under Personal Injury, Oregon

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 9 years ago | Contributor

No, under court rules, you should admit what is obviously true or correct (and especially if it doesn't hurt you), and you also have to admit or deny line-by-line or allegation-by-allegation. However, you don't need to admit what you don't personally know. To give a quick example, let's say there are six allegations in a suit claiming that you breached a contract with a home contractor by failing to pay everything you owed (which you, in good faith deny). The allegations are:
1) John Doe [that's you] owns a home at 1313 Mockingbird Lane
2) Homes-r-Us is an LLC licensed to do home renovations.
3) John Doe hired Home-r-us to renovate his home.
4) Homes-r-us did all the work they were hired to do.
5) John Doe breached the contract by failing to pay Homes-r-us the amount legally due them.
6) Homes-r-us was damaged by John Doe's breach in the amount of $30,000.
Your position is that they failed to do the work and that's why you didn't pay them. You answer as follows:
1) Admitted [assuming they got your name and address right]
2) Defendant lacks sufficient information and leaves Plaintiff to its proofs [you don't know for sure that they are an LLC or licensed, but just know what they told you--let them prove this]
3) Admitted [if you did in fact hire them, it's true and you know this]
4) Denied [you believe they did not do all the work]
5) Denied [you feel you did not owe them all the money, because they breached by failing to do all the work]
6) Denied [you don't agree that you owe them $30,000]


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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