Chapter 1: Basics of Small Claims Court
Why Use Small Claims Court?
The purpose of small claims court is to hear disputes involving modest amounts of money, without long delays and formal rules of evidence. Disputes usually are presented directly by the people involved. Lawyers are prohibited in some states, including Michigan and California, but are allowed in most. However, the limited dollar amounts involved usually make it economically unwise to hire a lawyer.
CAUTION
Check your state’s jurisdictional amount before you file. We provide the most up-to-date information available at the time this book was published. But these amounts change, so be sure to check the rules for your state before filing. An excellent resource for 50-state small claims court information is www.freeadvice.com/resources/smallclaimscourts.htm.
There are three great advantages of small claims court:
- You get to prepare and present your own case without having to pay a lawyer more than your claim is worth.
- Filing, preparing, and presenting a small claims case is relatively easy. The complicated legal forms and language found in other courts is kept to a minimum. To start your case, you need only fill out a few lines on a simple form (for example, “Defendant owes me the sum of $4,000 because the 2014 Neon he sold me on January 1, 2019, in supposedly ‘excellent condition,’ died less than a mile from the car lot”). When you get to court, you can talk to the judge in plain English without any legal jargon.
- Small claims court doesn’t take long. Most disputes are heard in court within two or three months from the time the complaint is filed. The hearing itself seldom takes more than 15 minutes. The judge announces a decision either right there in the courtroom or mails it within a few days.
Will Small Claims Work for You?
Before you decide that small claims court sounds like the right place to bring your case, you will want to answer a basic question: Will the results you expect to achieve be worth the effort? Even in small claims court, a successful case will probably take at least 20 hours to prepare and, depending on your personality, could actually cause a few sleepless nights.
When assessing whether your dispute is worth the effort, you will want to understand the details of how small claims court works, starting with who can sue, where, and for how much. You will also want to do the following:
- Learn a little law to answer such important questions as whether you are likely to win and, if so, how much; what types of papers you must file and when; and who can sue (and be sued). Part of this involves knowing the different legal rules for different types of cases—for example, a personal injury claim versus a security deposit dispute.
- Once you conclude you do have a winning case, understand how best to prepare and present it.
- Finally, and most importantly, determine whether you will be able to collect the money if you win. This is an important detail that many people overlook. Assuming that you get a judgment for everything you request, it won’t be worth much if you can’t get paid. Unfortunately, many plaintiffs who go through the entire small claims procedure and come out winners have no chance of collecting a dime. They’ve sued a “judgment-proof” person without collectible money or assets.
This book covers of all of these issues. The first several chapters will help you decide whether or not you have a case worth pursuing; these are not the chapters where grand strategies are brilliantly unrolled to baffle and confound the opposition—that comes later. The initial chapters deal with such mundane tasks as locating the person you want to sue, suing in the right court, filling out the necessary forms, and properly delivering the forms to the person you’re suing.
Below are preliminary checklists of things to consider at this initial stage—depending on whether you are the plaintiff or the defendant. This book goes into each area in more detail, and provides targeted advice for both plaintiffs and defendants in small claims cases.
| Initial Stage Questions for a Plaintiff |
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- Do you have a good case? That is, can you establish or prove all the key pieces of your claim? (See Chapters 2 and 14–22.)
- How much is your claim worth? If the value is more than the small claims maximum, do you wish to waive the excess and still use small claims court? (See Chapter 4.)
- Have you made a reasonable effort to contact the other party and settle the case? (See Chapter 6.)
- Are you within the deadline (statute of limitations) by which you must file your suit? (See Chapter 5.)
- Whom do you sue and how do you identify this person or business on your court papers? In some types of cases, especially those involving businesses and automobiles, this can be a little trickier than you might have guessed. (See Chapter 8.)
- Which small claims court should you bring your suit in? (See Chapter 9.)
- If mediation is offered or encouraged by your small claims court, do you understand how it works and how best to use it? (See Chapter 6.)
- Can you make a convincing courtroom presentation? (See Chapter 15.)
- And, the most important question: Assuming you can win, is there a reasonable chance you can collect? (See Chapters 3 and 24.)
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| Initial Stage Questions for a Defendant |
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- Do you have legal grounds for a countersuit against the plaintiff? Or put another way, does the plaintiff really owe you money instead of the other way around? (See Chapters 10 and 12.)
- Do you have a partial or complete defense against the plaintiff’s claim? Or put another way, has the plaintiff filed a bogus lawsuit? (See Chapters 2 and 12.)
- Is the plaintiff’s money demand reasonable or excessive? (See Chapter 4.)
- Has the plaintiff brought the suit within the proper time limit? (See Chapter 5.)
- Has the plaintiff followed reasonably correct procedures in bringing suit and delivering the court papers to you? (See Chapters 11 and 12.)
- If mediation is offered or encouraged by your small claims court, do you understand how it works and how to use it? (See Chapter 6.)
- Have you made a reasonable effort to contact the plaintiff to arrive at a settlement? (See Chapters 6 and 12.)
- Assuming you’ll fight the case in court, you’ll typically need proof that your version of events is correct. Can you collect evidence and witnesses to accomplish this? (See Chapters 13–15.)
- Are you prepared to present your side of the case convincingly in court? (See Chapter 15.)
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Tip
Defendants may want to file their own lawsuit. In addition to their right to defend themselves, defendants also have the opportunity to file their own case against the plaintiff. (See Chapters 10 and 12.) If you are sued, you’ll want to do this if you believe that you lost money due to the same events the plaintiff is complaining about and the plaintiff is legally responsible for your loss. Defendants’ claims commonly develop out of a situation in which both parties are negligent (for example, in a car accident) and the question is who was more at fault. If your claim is for less than the small claims court maximum, you can file there. But if it is for more, you will want to check your state’s rules. Typically, you’ll learn that you should file your case in a different court (and have your opponent’s case transferred there), but your state may use a different system. (See Chapter 10.)
How to Use This Book
This guide covers the procedures that both plaintiffs and defendants should use to bring or defend a small claims case successfully. Unlike other guides, it also contains step-by-step instructions for preparing particularly common small claims cases.
Chapters 2 and 3 help you answer the fundamental question of whether you should sue in the first place by asking two crucial questions: Do you have a good case? Can you collect any money from the defendant if you win? If your answer to either of these questions is “no,” then you should read Chapter 6 to see whether you might be able to settle your dispute without going to court, or you should consider dropping the idea of a lawsuit.
Chapters 4–9 walk you through the procedural details. Small claims court is meant to be easy, but it still has rules about how much money you can sue for, whom you can sue, what court you should bring your lawsuit in, and so forth.
Chapters 10 and 11 are about the actual paperwork: How do you fill out your papers and deliver them to the defendant once you’ve decided to bring a small claims lawsuit?
Chapter 12 is for the defendant. You’ve just been sued; what do you do?
Chapters 13–15 get you ready for your day in court. In Chapters 23 and 24 you’ll find out how the judge issues a ruling, how to appeal, and how to collect your money if you’re successful.
In Chapters 16–22, we look at the most common types of cases and discuss strategies to handle each. Even if your fact situation doesn’t fit neatly into one of these categories, you should read this material. By picking up a few hints here and a little information there, you should be able to piece together a good plan of action. For example, many of the suggestions on how to handle motor vehicle repair disputes can also be applied to cases involving problems with fixing major appliances such as televisions, washers, and expensive sound systems.
Appendix A contains a summary of important small claims court information and rules for every state. You can easily find the name of the court that handles small claims cases, the relevant state statutes, the link for the small claims court website, dollar limits for bringing a lawsuit, service of process rules, time limits for responding to claims, how to appeal a decision, and more. You will want to check your state’s small claims court website early in the process, whether you’re a plaintiff or a defendant, for valuable information about how small claims cases are handled in your state. Be sure to also check the local small claims court clerk’s office for local rules.
Appendix B is a glossary of some key legal jargon related to small claims cases and court. Fortunately, there is not a lot of it, but there are a few terms that may be new to you. If you’re stumped by a term that isn’t defined in the book, check out the Nolo website, which includes a Free Dictionary of Law Terms and Legal Definitions.
Because small claims procedures are established by state law, there are differences in the operating rules of small claims courts from state to state, including the maximum amount for which you can sue, who can sue, and the what, where, and when of filing papers. There are even differences in what small claims court (or its equivalent) is called in the different states, with justice, district, municipal, city, county, and magistrates court among the names commonly used.
Even so, the basic approach necessary to prepare and present a case is remarkably similar everywhere. But details are important, and you should do three things to make sure you understand how small claims court works in your state:
- Look up the summary of your state’s rules in Appendix A of this book.
- Obtain your local small claims rules from your small claims court clerk’s office.
- Check out your state’s small claims rules online. See Appendix A for information on how to find your state’s small claims court.
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