Summary: Small claims is a simplified procedure for individuals to litigate without attorney representation at Court. In addition to a simplified procedure and liberalized evidentiary rules, there are limits on how much a plaintiff can pursue and a plaintiff cannot appeal. A losing defendant can appeal to Superior Court. The key point here is that small claims may be attractive to a party who is seeking a small dollar amount that is insufficient to warrant to costs of an attorney or a full superior court case.
What is small claims
Small claims is a process under the California Code of Civil Procedure that allows a person who believes that he or she has a claim against another person to seek money through a lawsuit process that is shorter and simpler than the typical lawsuit process.
Who can use small claims
Any person or entity can use small claims, but there are limits. If the person seeking a remedy is a natural human being, that person cannot seek more than $12,500 in damages. Business entities are limited to suing for $6,250. Only two small claims lawsuits in excess of $2,500 are available to the same plaintiff in any given calendar year.
How to Sue in Small Claims
Send a demand letter
Prior to suing in small claims, the person who sues must make a demand that the defendant pay. It is best practice to be able to prove that the demand was sent and received.
Without going into excessive details, the best way to prove send and receipt is with each of the following: (1) US mail with tracking, but not signed receipt; (2) email with a declaration that the send did not receive any indication that the email was not received; (3) fax, with a fax transmission page showing fax was received. Only after having at least one of those could you consider certified signed receipt by U.S. Mail.
Certified signed receipt by U.S. Mail is not considered sent until the recipient signs for the item, so if you send it certified signed receipt by U.S. Mail and the recipient does not sign for it - as a matter of law, you did not send it.
Figure out where to sue
If the lawsuit pertains to property, like a slip & fall due to conditions at a property, unpaid rent at a property, damage from trespass to the property, neighbor disputes where the properties are each located in the same county, you need to sue in that County.
If you and the defendant reside in the same county, and whatever you are suing over occurred in that county, you should sue in that county.
In other situations, you can usually sue in the county where the defendant resides or where the events took place.
This is a simplified analysis of where you can sue and may not fit every situation.
Complete and file the correct forms
Plaintiff's Claim and Order to Go to Small Claims Court (
). Form SC-100 tells the court who you are, who you're suing, why, how much you are suing for, and why you're suing in this county. You need to state the true and correct legal name of the person or business you're suing, who is referred to as the “defendant.” You need to check the box and state why you are suing in the County that you are suing in.
If you need to name additional defendants then you need to complete Other Plaintiffs or Defendants (Attachment to Plaintiff's Claim and ORDER to Go to Small Claims Court) (
Make at least three copies of the papers and bring them to the appropriate courthouse clerk’s office and give them to the clerk and ask the clerk to file the papers.
Pay the fee, which varies depending on how much money you are suing for: (a) $30 – Claims up to $1,500; (b) $50 – Claims $1,500.01 to $5,000; (c) $75 – Claims over $5,000. You can also apply for a fee waiver on Form
Have someone other than you give the file stamped papers to the defendant[s], then file a Proof of Service
If the Court accepts your documents as official records of the Court the clerk will stamp to the top right of the first page of each separate document. That is called a file-stamped original. Copies of that file-stamped original are called conformed copies. You need to serve either a file-stamped original or a conformed copy of the documents on each defendant.
Service is a complex subject. Every detail and nuance is beyond the scope of this article. Basically, serve needs deliver to the defendant in a legally proper manner. The small claims complaint must be personally served on each defendant. Personally served means that someone other than yourself places the papers are either placed in the defendant’s hand while simultaneously explaining the nature of the papers. Alternatively, the papers can be placed at someone’s feet, while explaining the nature of the papers.
Mail service, email service, and fax service are not legally valid for the Small Claims complaint.
Have the person who served the papers complete Form
and date & sign that form. Then go to the Court where you filed the Complaint and file that Proof of Service. You must do so well before the court date stated on the filed papers.
Gather evidence, prepare your case, attend trial date
Evidence means anything that has any tendency to prove or disprove your claims. Evidence usually takes the forms of oral assertions under oath, called testimony, documents, like receipts, photographs, email or text messages, and other tangible things, like a damaged automobile, for instance.
Sometimes, evidence is possessed by third parties. If that is the case, you may need to go through the small claims subpoena process. In small claims, a party needs the Court to issue the Subpoena. The party fills out the Small Claims Subpoena (
) and brings it to the Court and the Court may accept and stamp the subpoena.
If you want non-party witnesses to attend the trial to give testimony, you need to have a court-issued subpoena personally served on that witness. You need to have the person who served the subpoena complete and sign the proof of service of service. You do not need to file that proof of service with the Court, but it will become part of the official register of actions if you do file that proof of service.
The small claims subpoena process is outside the scope of this blog, but, summarized, it requires: (1) obtaining a court issued subpoena; (2) notifying the consumer or employee, if applicable, on the appropriate form, with sufficient time according to law before the subpoena is served; (3) serving the subpoena with sufficient time according to law to allow for production of the evidence, usually at trial.
You can learn more about the small claims subpoena process here:
If you need an interpreter ask the Court for one in advance. If you have a disability and need an accommodation, ask the court for one in advance by using .
Make four copies of each document, and organize all copies, including using tabs for each document, indexes and tables of contents. One is your copy; another copy is for the opposing party, the third copy is for any witnesses, and the fourth copy is for the judge.
The best practice for admitting evidence at trial is to focus on what the witness perceived; what was seen, what was heard, what words were said; what are the titles of the documents exchanged, were those documents signed. Sometimes party litigants become fixated on legal conclusions such as harassed, defrauded, broke the contract. Use of those terms are frequently not helpful, because they are legal conclusions that are reached by the fact finder, the judge in small claims. The fact finder needs thje factual allegations in the form of evidence to reach those conclusions. If all that is presented comprises conclusions, without sufficient facts, those conclusions may be unsupported.
Want to print your doc? This is not the way.
Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (
