If you’ve had to take someone to small claims court, that means that you plan to sue them for an amount not exceeding $5,000. This could be anything from being owed your security deposit to your dry cleaner ruining your new $500 suit. Whatever the case, you will need to go to court to get this matter settled if the person hasn’t offered to reimburse you.
When filing a case in small claims court, you do not need a lawyer to represent you. However, you may still incur court costs. Should you have to pay those costs when the whole situation wasn’t your fault in the first place?
There are some fees that are charged for filing a small claims case. Those include filing fees, costs of court reporting as well as costs to make copies of legal documents. While theses amounts may be small, they can all add up.
Some states let a person add the costs into the amount they are trying to claim. For example, if you are seeking $3,000 from someone, you can add the $50 in court fees to this amount so that your total would be $3,050. Remember though that this is the amount you are asking for and is not necessarily the amount you will get if you win your case. It is still up to the courts to decide how much money you get if you win.
By knowing what laws apply to you as well as their details, you can go into court fully knowing what to expect.