If the dispute is money, you can make a claim based on a legal principle used in other courts, such as personal injury, breach of contract or warranty, etc. Special Proof of Service Form – The person serving the claimant`s claim through alternative service must complete a special proof of performance form entitled Proof of Shipment (Substituted Service) (Form SC-104A) and sign. This completed form must be submitted to Small Claims Court at least five days prior to the hearing. California`s limitation periods cover a wide range of legal issues, including those that contain special terms. Regardless of the type of service you use, the service must be completed within the explicit time frame before the hearing. If you do not serve the defendant within these express time limits, the defendant can ask the court to postpone the hearing and, in most cases, the date of the hearing will be changed. When counting the days, do not count the day the service was completed, but the date of the hearing. Also keep in mind that a completed and signed Small Claims Form (Form SC-104) indicating that the process was served within these time limits must be filed with small claims court at least five days before the hearing date. For more information, ask the Clerk what is “proof of service”? (Form SC-104B). Like all court forms, you can read and print them by visiting the Judicial Council`s self-help website in www.courtinfo.ca.gov. If your claim exceeds the small claims limit, you can file a case with the regular superior court, where you can either represent yourself or hire a lawyer to represent you. Instead of doing so, you can choose to reduce the amount of your claim and waive (waive) the rest of the claim to stay within the Small Claims Court monetary limit.
Before you reduce your claim, discuss your plans with a small claims consultant or lawyer. Once the dispute has been heard and decided by Small Claims Court, your right to collect the amount you are waiving will be lost forever. You must pay a small claims court filing fee when you file your case. If you cannot afford these costs, you can ask the court to waive (forgive) these costs. You can apply for a judicial exemption by completing and filing an application for a waiver of court fees (Form FW-001). For information on the standards that the court will apply when approving or rejecting your application, ask the Clerk the Clerk for the Waiver of Court Fees and Expenses Fact Sheet (Form FW-001-INFO) or visit the Judicial Council`s self-help website and print your own copy. Small claims courts have a cap on the amount of money a party can claim. You can sue for up to $10,000 if you are an individual or sole proprietor. Businesses and other businesses are capped at $5,000. In addition, a party (individuals or businesses) may not file more than two claims over $2,500 in a California state court in a calendar year. If you exceed the two cases that exceed the limit of $2,500 per calendar year, the court can only award you a maximum of $2,500 in each subsequent case, even if your proven damage exceeds $2,500.
This boundary does not apply to a city, county, city and county, school district, district education office, community college district, local district or other local public institution. You are not allowed to divide a claim into two or more receivables (called debt splitting) in order to meet monetary limits. With nearly 4,000 small claims filed every day in the Los Angeles area alone, small claims court is a well-used legal instrument in California. Designed for the average citizen, the dish allows ordinary people to resolve their differences quickly, easily and, most importantly, cost-effectively. As always, we recommend that you contact a lawyer as soon as possible, as he or she will discuss your legal case in detail, including the limitation period that applies to your case. For best results, it is important that you seek advice from a lawyer who specializes in the law of your legal case. As a general rule, a case must be filed in the district (and court area) where the defendant is domiciled.