Notice of Default

Did you get proof that the court received the response on 12/30/08? Was the notice of default from the lawyer or the court?

Check with the court to see if it is real if it came from the laywer. They may be trying to get you believing that you lost.

Was there a court date that you missed?

I know the answer was filed on December 30th. I took it to the court house and had it time stamped.

The notice was sent from the laywers office, not from the court.

It depends on the date you received the summons. You usually get 20 days to answer plus 3 days. So if you went to the court house on the 20th day and had it time stamped you are good and should have nothing to worry about. It is real easy for them to call the court and see if you filed your answer, it sounds to me like they are purposely ignoring their mail and trying to get a default against you.

I would go to the court house and see what they are doing.

Did they send you a court document or just a letter.
Take whatever they sent to the court clerk and ask if they are legit. They can tell you if the court awarded the default judgement and when the court date was.
If you missed the court date ask for the proof of service of the actual trial date.