Florida debt collection summons from Portfolio Recovery

The summons initiates the lawsuit against you so that Portfolio Recovery can attempt to get a judgment for the debt (plus costs and attorney fees most likely) and then attempt to enforce the judgment.  Since each case is for less than $10,000, your summons should be for County Court (I'm assuming the amounts are above $5,000).  The summons then should tell you that you have 20 days to respond to the Complaint.  This is vitally important because if you fail to answer, you can get what's called a default, which will essentially preclude you from raising defenses.  However, if you answer improperly, you can actually waive potential defenses.  I would highly advise consulting with an attorney immediately.  I would also very much advise finding an attorney to fight this lawsuit on your behalf.  Litigation is complicated and it is very easy to make a misstep.  With regard to the substance of whether or not they can produce the proper paperwork necessary to enforce the debt, it is a possible defense; however, there's no way anyone can tell you whether that defense exists without having the details and pursuing discovery (discovery is the litigation process through which the evidence in the case is exchanged).  The long short of this is to make sure a legal response is filed within the time limit provided - which should be 20 days - and that you should seek the consultation of an attorney.