Small Claims Court in New York PDF Print E-mail
Written by Jeff Hogue   

www.LawNY.org

Small Claims Court is designed to be an informal and inexpensive way to resolve disputes. You can sue in Small Claims Court if you are asking for less than $3,000. City Courts have a maximum claim amount of $5,000.

 

To start a Small Claims action (lawsuit), you first file a Notice of Claim in your local Small Claims Court. Ask the Court Clerk for a Notice of Claim form. The filing fee is $15.00 to $20.00 depending upon the amount you are suing for. The Court Clerk will mail the Notice of Claim to the other party. You must file your case in the Small Claims Court closest to where the other party lives, works, or has his main place of business. If the person you want to sue lives in the Town of Geneva, for example, you can file your case in the Town of Geneva, but not the City of Geneva.

 

There may be time deadlines that cut off your right to sue, so you should see a lawyer to find out the deadline and file as soon as you can. Contact the Court Clerk in the city, town, or village where you need to file your lawsuit to find out when that court schedules Small Claims Court dates. The phonebook will have the address and telephone number of your local court. You can also find information about local courts at this website: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courthelp

 

You do not have to bring a lawyer to Small Claims Court, but you can bring a lawyer if you want to. You should bring with you two copies of any papers that help prove your case.

 

For more information, look for articles on www.lawny.org or www.lawhelp.org. There is also an article on the New York State Court's website at: http://www.nycourts.gov/courthelp/faqs/smallclaims.html

 
** New York City's rules are different, and some parts of New York State have District Courts and special Commercial Small Claims Courts. These are not addressed in this article.**

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(c) Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.

This article provides general information about this subject. Laws affecting this subject may have changed since this article was written. For specific legal advice about a problem you are having, get the advice of a lawyer. Receiving this information does not make you a client of our office.

rev. 2/20/08 J. Hogue

 

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