Why do defendants refuse to answer summons ?

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one reason is

things would revealed in court and be entered into the public record that they want to keep hidden.

another is they think they can evade paying the judgement, so why waste time in ct?

i won a default judgement in small claims vs a small company who failed to appear.

i sent the sheriff to collect via attaching their bank acct or seizing their assets,

and he said the would-be assets were sheltered: rented office equip & vehicle, and an outa state bank acct --

sheriff got nothing for me.

so i went to the county library to research it and the law librarian immediately found the applicable statute :

a realtor cannot have an outstanding judgement :

pay it or lose license.

I mailed copy of the judgement to the real estate commish and got my check abt a week later,

abt $1,300 -- not bad for a few hrs work on an original $45 ripoff.

the only thing missing was me seeing the perp's reaction when he read the commissions letter ordering him to pay me.

ive netted abt $3k in small claims,

and what i'v learned in the process saved me / made me abt $30k...so far.

one of those things: frivolous suits/legal motions.

discovering they'r unlawful in my state saved me $15k.

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They COULD be held in contempt for not responding but this happens all the time.

In most cases if they don't respond at all and don't show up the day of court the plaintiff will be awarded a default judgment.

Fear, running away, forgetfulness, who knows.