Small Claims Filing and Hearing Checklist: A Practical Checklist

Summary. This checklist runs a small claims case from the decision to file through collection. It begins with the four threshold questions determining whether the claim belongs in small claims court, then covers the defendant identification research that decides more cases than any argument, the demand letter, filing and fee waivers, the service rules self-represented plaintiffs most often get wrong, exhibit preparation, the hearing, and the post-judgment collection tools including the abstract of judgment that quietly does most of the work.

What this checklist is for. Filing, trying, and collecting a small claims case. For the framework, see Small Claims Court: Suing and Defending Without a Lawyer. For general civil practice without counsel, see Representing Yourself in a Civil Case.

Phase 1 — Four threshold questions

Is the amount within the jurisdictional limit? Check your state's current figure. If not, decide whether to waive the excess (usually permitted, and usually the right economic choice) or file in a higher court.
Is this a claim for money? Small claims courts generally cannot order specific performance, issue injunctions, decide title to land, or grant family relief.
Has the statute of limitations run? Small claims courts apply the same periods as any court.
Is there an arbitration clause? Check consumer contracts — many carve out small claims court expressly, and many do not. See 9 U.S.C. § 2.

Also ask: can this defendant actually be collected from? A judgment against someone with only exempt income and no assets is a piece of paper.

Phase 2 — Identify the correct defendant

This decides more small claims cases than anything else in this checklist.

Search the secretary of state's business database for the exact registered entity name. Free, online, two minutes.
If no entity exists, search county fictitious business name / DBA filings to find the individual behind the trade name.
Determine the form: sole proprietorship (sue the individual, d/b/a the trade name), corporation or LLC (sue the exact registered name), partnership (sue the partnership and, where allowed, the general partners).
For a franchise, identify the local franchisee entity, which is separate from the national brand.
Record the registered agent and address for service.
Confirm the entity is active; if dissolved, determine whether it remains suable and whether an owner may be reached — see Piercing the Corporate Veil.
Name every potentially responsible party rather than guessing which one is liable.
Confirm venue: where the defendant resides or does business, or where the events occurred. Note the debt collector venue restriction at 15 U.S.C. § 1692i.

Phase 3 — The demand letter

Confirm whether your state or claim type requires pre-suit notice (security deposits, consumer claims, and claims against public entities frequently do).
State what happened, with dates.
State what was agreed and what went wrong.
State the amount demanded, with the basis shown.
Attach the supporting documents.
Give a deadline of ten to fourteen days.
State that you will file suit if it is not resolved.
Send by certified mail, return receipt requested, and keep the receipt.
Keep the tone businesslike — the judge will read it.

Phase 4 — Filing

Obtain the court's small claims form (or use the state judiciary's fillable version).
Describe the claim in three to five plain sentences with dates and amounts.
State the amount claimed, plus costs.
Ask about a fee waiver if needed — every court has one.
Confirm the hearing date and the service deadline before it.
Keep a file-stamped copy.
Ask the clerk: does this court require a written response from the defendant? Are counterclaims filed on a separate form? Is mediation offered before the hearing? Are attorneys permitted?

Phase 5 — Service

Confirm the permitted methods in your state — sheriff, private process server, certified mail with return receipt, sometimes restricted delivery.
Do not serve the papers yourself. Service by a party is prohibited in most states.
Serve the correct person for an entity — registered agent, officer, or managing agent.
Serve within the deadline before the hearing.
File the proof of service with the court. Service that is not proven has not happened.
If service fails, ask the clerk about substituted service, service by publication, or a new hearing date.

Phase 6 — Build the exhibit file

The contract, or the texts and emails that formed it.
Proof of payment — canceled checks, statements, payment app records.
Photographs, dated, before and after, wide and close.
Two or three written estimates to repair or complete, from businesses that would actually do the work.
Receipts for what you actually spent.
The demand letter and the certified mail receipt, plus any response.
A one-page chronology, dated.
Number every exhibit and prepare a one-page index.
Make three complete copies: judge, other party, yourself.
Bring witnesses, or — where the court allows it — sworn written statements. Ask the clerk which is permitted.
Subpoena any necessary witness who will not appear voluntarily.

Damages proof by claim type:

Breach of contract — amount paid, cost to complete or repair, or difference in value.
Property damage — repair cost, or fair market value before and after. Not the price of a new replacement unless the item was new.
Unpaid invoice — the agreement, the work performed, the delivery or acceptance.
Security deposit — lease, deposit receipt, move-in and move-out photographs, written forwarding address with proof of delivery, and the itemization the landlord did or did not send. Check the statutory penalty for failure to itemize.

Phase 7 — The hearing

Arrive early; check in with the clerk.
Take mediation seriously if offered — mediated agreements get paid more often than judgments do.
Present chronologically, tying each fact to a numbered exhibit.
State a specific number and stop.
Address the judge, never the other party.
Do not interrupt. Do not argue. Do not describe how the dispute made you feel.
Answer questions directly; say "I don't know" when you do not.
Acknowledge the weakness in your case before the other side raises it.
Ask that your filing and service costs be added to the judgment.

Phase 8 — If you are the defendant

Calendar the hearing. Not appearing produces a default judgment for the full amount.
Ask the clerk whether a written answer is required in advance.
Consider a counterclaim — file it by the deadline, on the correct form, with any required fee. In some states a related claim not raised now is lost.
Check whether you were properly served.
Check whether the plaintiff sued the correct entity.
Check the statute of limitations.
Check for an arbitration clause.
Build your own exhibit file with the same discipline: numbered, indexed, three copies.
If you owe part of it, say so — split judgments are common and credibility is worth more than a losing denial.
If you cannot attend, request a continuance in writing before the hearing, with a reason.

Phase 9 — After the decision

Determine your state's appeal rule: trial de novo, appeal on the record, or no appeal — and the deadline, which is often ten to thirty days.
Understand the risk of a de novo appeal: the other side may appear with counsel, and fees may be recoverable.
If a default judgment was entered against you, move to vacate promptly; defective service is the strongest ground and generally has no time limit.

Phase 10 — Collecting the judgment

Send a copy of the judgment with a payment demand. Many are paid voluntarily.
Record an abstract of judgment with the county — cheap, passive, and often the most effective tool, because it must be satisfied before real property is sold or refinanced.
Schedule a debtor's examination — a court-ordered appearance to answer questions about assets under oath. The most useful and least used tool available.
Wage garnishment, subject to 15 U.S.C. § 1673 and to state limits, which are frequently more protective.
Bank levy through the sheriff or marshal.
Property levy on vehicles or business equipment.
Till tap or keeper levy against a business's receipts, where permitted.
Know what is exempt: Social Security and federal benefits under 42 U.S.C. § 407, plus state homestead, vehicle, tools of trade, household goods, and wildcard exemptions.
Add enforcement costs to the judgment.
Calendar the renewal deadline — judgments expire but are renewable, often for ten or twenty years.