When you receive a Requests for Admission, the other side is asking you to admit a list of statements are true or that documents are genuine. This is so they can establish these things before the trial so they won’t have to prove them at trial. This allows the trial to focus on issues that the parties disagree on.
PRINT EMAILThe Requests for Admission may be on a form, Requests for Admission (form DISC-020), or may be typed up by the opposing party or their attorney. If it's not a form, the document will typically say Requests for Admission in the title.
Make sure that you are listed as the Answering or Responding party. If it lists someone else, you do not need to respond to these requests, they are provided for your information.
the other side may ask the judge to order that all the facts are true or documents are genuine. This can often cause you to lose your case.
If you respond that something isn’t true, but then it’s proven to be true at trial, you may be ordered to pay a fine, especially if the court finds that your response wasn’t just a mistake.
You have 30 days to respond to a Requests for Admission. If you were served by mail, you typically have 35 days from the date of mailing to respond.
There is no form for your answer, but you typically have to respond in a specified format, using paper with numbers down the left-hand side, with your name and address at the top left, the name of the court and of the case, and the case number. A sample of this format is included in the steps below.
Your answers can effect the outcome of your case. See examples of what it means to "admit" or "deny" something
EXAMPLE
If you're a defendant in a debt defense case, a request for admission might ask you to admit “You never disputed any of the charges in the monthly billing statements you received for the account alleged in the complaint.”
ADMIT
If you answer "Admit," you establish that you did not dispute the charges, and you would be prevented from saying that you disputed any charges at trial.
DENY
You might answer “Deny” if you did contact the plaintiff to dispute one or more of the charges. If you deny it, the plaintiff must prove this fact to the court.
LACK INFORMATION
You might answer that you lack information if you don’t know for sure whether you disputed any charges, and you have no means of finding out. If you respond this way, the plaintiff must prove this fact to the court.
If you deny something that is proven true at trial, you could be held responsible for the cost of proving that it's true.