Big Truths About Small Claims

The purpose of small claims court is to allow people to bring relatively minor claims before a judge without incurring considerable expense in the form of attorney's fees and court costs. By its very nature, small claims court is a simple, inexpensive and reasonably fast alternative to a full-blown lawsuit.

Why do people end up in small claims court? The top reasons people typically go to small claims court to resolve their problems are:

1. To recover a security deposit: If your landlord fails to return your security deposit to you after you have vacated his property, you may have to take him to small claims court.

2. To recover unpaid rent after a tenant vacates a property: If you still owe back rent when you vacate your landlord's property, your landlord may take YOU to small claims court.

3. To recover for medical bills after an injury accident: Say you trip over a toy your neighbors' bratty kid left in the middle of your driveway, break your ankle and have to go to the emergency room. If your neighbors refuse to pay the emergency room bill, you may have to take them to small claims court.

4. To recover money spent to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property: If your neighbors' bratty kid throws a tantrum, hurls a toy at your brand new Mercedes and scratches the paint, and the neighbors refuse to pay for repair of the scratch, you may have to take them to small claims court.

5. To recover a relatively small, unpaid debt: If your neighbors borrow $500 to enroll their bratty kid in anger management classes, and then fail or refuse to repay you, you may have to take them to small claims court.

The first thing you'll need to do if you want to file a lawsuit in small claims court is to determine whether your claim meets the small claims court's jurisdictional requirements. Each state has established a maximum monetary limit for small claims cases. In some states, the limit is $2,000. In others, it may be as high as $5,000 or $10,000. If the amount of money in dispute in your case exceeds your state's limits, then you may have to hire an attorney and file your case in a court with a higher jurisdictional limit, such as superior court.