Small claims court is where a person can sue another person for a money amount of up to $5,000. In a small claims court you do not need an attorney and there is no transcript of the court proceedings. Any claim up to $5,000 can be seen in small claims court such as a rental problem, damaged property, return of security deposit, unpaid bills, breach of contract or even hospital bills.
Any case that warrants more than $5,000 will have to go to a higher court. If you want to file a small claims case, you have to make sure you are within the statute of limitations. A statute of limitations is known as a time limit that you have in order to get the case started. For example, if you are owed back rent from a tenant that was there over ten years ago, the statute of limitations has most likely been reached and you will not be able to make this a valid claims case. Not every case has the same time limit, so you will need to check with the courts to find out how much time you have.
When filing the case, make sure you have the full and complete name of the person you are filing against. You will need this to make sure you get your payment should you happen to win your case. Without the full legal name of the defendant, you may not be able to get paid from this person if there is an error on your part.
If you want to file a small claims case against someone, you will need to go to the courts and fill out the necessary paperwork. You will also need to pay a small filing fee, usually around $100. Once you have filed the notarized paperwork, you will then need to issue these documents to everyone that is part of the case you are filing. Once you do that, your case can then move forward.