Small Claims

What Makes a Case a Small Claims Case?

 

As of January 1, 2024, Small Claims are civil lawsuits for $12,500.00 or less that are designed to be handled quickly and efficiently compared to other kinds of civil lawsuits.  In most small claims cases, there is a single hearing where the whole case is decided, unless the defendant appeals the result.  Parties represent themselves in small claims court – you cannot have an attorney appear on your behalf (except in an appeal).

Small Claims cases do not strictly require a written response from the defendant, but the defendant can file their own claim against the plaintiff that can be heard at the same hearing date.

Special note: If you were served with paperwork titled Summons that gives you a 30 day deadline to file a written response, this is not a small claims case.

In California, some cases can be for under $12,500.00 without being a small claims case – if you were served with a Complaint and Summons from a plaintiff looking to recover money from a credit account, contact the Kern County Law Library to learn about that kind of case.

 

What Kind of Cases are Heard in Small Claims Court?

 

Civil cases (in other words, not criminal cases) for $12,500.00 or less.  There are many kinds of cases which can match that description.

A small claims case may be appropriate if you:

• Have had your property damaged
• Believe someone broke an agreement with you for goods or services
• Want someone to be ordered to return property that is in their possession which you believe belongs to you, or to be paid the value of the property they won’t return
• Want certain other forms of equitable relief, primarily related to contracts

 

Are There Any Special Requirements in Small Claims Court?

 

Yes.  Before you file in small claims court, you should ask the person/company/whomever you want to sue for the money or property you believe you are owed.  That can be done in person, over the phone, or with a demand letter.

If you want help preparing a demand letter, the California Court’s website has a DEMAND LETTER GENERATOR (click link to access demand letter generator).

 

Who Can I Sue in Small Claims Court?

 

There are many kinds of defendants you can sue.  The Federal Government cannot be sued in small claims, but most other kinds of defendants can be.

Whoever you are looking to sue in small claims, you must carefully and accurately name the defendant, so that you can collect assets from the defendant if they will not willingly pay the judgment you won.

You can visit the page (click link to access) on the Judicial Branch website to learn about naming a defendant in a small claims case.

The page linked above gives explicit instructions on how to name your defendant, depending on the type of defendant, so please review its examples carefully before naming your defendant.

 

I Want to Sue a Business – What Should I Know?

 

Businesses come in many sizes and many legal classifications.

You will need to know what kind of business you are suing, and you will need to know who to serve a copy of your Complaint.

Some businesses are only registered with “Fictitious Business Names” with the city in which they operate, or the county in which they operate.  If you want to sue a business in Kern County,  you can check to see if they registered with the city in which they operate, or you can DO A FICTITIOUS BUSINESS SEARCH (click link to search) for businesses registered with Kern County.

Some businesses register with the California Secretary of State.  If you did a fictitious business name search for a company registered in Kern County and they operate as a Limited Partnership, LLC, or Corporation, you can find important information you will need to fill out your paperwork by doing a BUSINESS SEARCH THROUGH THE CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE WEBSITE (click link to search for business information).

 

Where Should I File My Small Claims Case?

 

You should MAKE SURE KERN COUNTY IS THE PROPER COUNTY FOR YOUR CASE (click link to learn about venue).

 

What Forms Will I Need?

 

For many Small Claims cases, you will only need to fill out and file form SC-100 – Plaintiff’s Claim and Order to Go to Small Claims Court (click link to download form) to start your case.  If there are multiple defendants (people you are suing) or more than two plaintiffs, you will need at least one additional form you can download here (click link for attachment page).

The clerk of the civil court will assign a case number and a hearing date for your matter.  Once you have a copy of your SC-100 (plus any attachments) back with a hearing date displayed, it is your responsibility to make sure the defendant gets served a copy of the paperwork.

 

How Should the Defendant be Served?

 

There is a lot of information to cover on this point, so we recommend going to The Judicial Branch of California’s detailed web page on service (Click link to learn about service).  This page features in-depth information, plus the form(s) you may need.

The important points we cover on this page are:

• You cannot serve your own paperwork – it has to be someone else, over the age of 18, and they cannot be a party to the case
• Once your paperwork is served, your server will need to file a Proof of Service with the court at least five days before your hearing date.
• If the defendant is a business entity or government entity, there will be special rules about who to serve which you should review carefully on the link above.

 

I’m Still Unclear on Some Details…

 

You may contact the Small Claims Advisor at (661) 610-6518 or wmselfhelp@kern.courts.ca.gov.

You can also review Everybody’s Guide to Small Claims on our NOLO Self-Help page (click link to navigate to page).  Log into the Legal Information Reference Center with the information on that page and then search for that title and you can read a self-help guide that covers far more than we can fit in a single page.