How to Sue a Business in Small Claims Court
Small claims court was established as an easy and expeditious mechanism for individuals to settle their financial disputes without having to go through the time and expense of hiring lawyers. This is what you need to know if you find it necessary to sue a company for failure to deliver on its obligations to you.
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Instructions
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Determine how much money the business owes you. The amounts you can sue for in small claims court vary from state to state but generally have an average cap of $7,000 per year. If the amount of your claim exceeds the cap that has been set by your state, you'll need to take your claim to a higher court for resolution. Be aware that you can only sue a business for the amount you are actually owed and that "emotional distress" is not part of the small claims equation.
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2
Determine whether the statute of limitations has expired for you to make a claim in small claims court. Ideally the filing should occur as close to the incident itself, but you may be able to take up to 2 to 4 years. The small claims court where you plan to file your claim can advise you of its jurisdictional deadlines.
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3
Put together the evidence that constitutes a claim against the company. Evidence will take the form of correspondence, contracts, photographs of property damage, canceled checks and receipts. If there were witnesses to the wrongdoing, you will need to acquire notarized statements from each of them regarding what they observed and what their personal understanding was of the agreement with the opposing party.
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Select the venue in which you plan to file your claim. This can either be (1) the court located closest to where the incident occurred; (2) the court closest to the address of the business you are suing or; (3) the court closest to your own home or business. The phone book or an Internet search will help you locate where the court offices are.
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Fill out a plaintiff's claim form and pay the court clerk the filing fees to have your case put on the upcoming docket of hearings. Once the form is filed, your hearing date will generally be scheduled 20 to 70 days later. If you need to reschedule this, notify the courts as soon as possible.
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Have the opposing party (the defendant) served with a copy of your plaintiff's claim. Be aware that if you are suing multiple parties within the same company, each one will need to receive a separate notice. Since neither you nor anyone who is associated with your case as a witness, co-worker, family member or friend can do the serving, you have three options. The first is to hire a registered process server (you can find one in the phone book). The second is to pay a fee to the local sheriff's department to have an officer serve the document. The third--and least advisable choice--is to have the clerk of the court serve it by certified mail. The drawback to this is that if the company refuses to sign for the certified letter, it will not count as the material having been served.
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Provide the clerk of the court with a proof of service that the claim has been served on the opposing party. A registered process server or a sheriff's deputy will know what this form is and will fill it out and return it to you.
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Show up punctually on the date of your hearing and follow all of the instructions given to you by the bailiff and the judge. The judge will invite you to tell your side of the story first. The opposing party will then state its side. After considering the testimony and evidence, the judge will render a decision. Both sides have the right to appeal.
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Tips & Warnings
Be respectful of the judge and the opposing party during the small claims hearing. Interrupting them, raising your voice or calling them names is not going to score you any points. Your court filing fees won't be reimbursed unless you thought to add them into the total amount of the claim you are filing. Nor will you be reimbursed for whatever time you have to take off from a job to attend the small claims hearing. A well dressed Plaintiff always make a better impression than one who looks sloppy or who hasn't attended to personal hygiene. Websites such as Legal Zoom and The People's Lawyer (see Resources) will further demystify what happens in a small claims proceeding.
Even if you win your case, you'll still need to collect your money from the company. This can be time consuming if the opposing party decides to countersue you, ignores your continued requests for payment or closes shop and moves out of town. It's not the responsibility of the small claims court to go chase them for you. In this case, you need to decide how much you're prepared to spend to hire legal counsel and take the matter to a higher authority. If it's in excess of the amount you're actually owed, it may be better to let the matter go.
