When small claims is the wrong court

This is general information, not legal advice. The wrong court can dismiss the case after you have paid a fee and served the papers.

Small claims is the wrong court when the statute excludes the subject, when you need a remedy the court cannot give, or when the amount is over the line and you are not willing to waive the rest. Those are three different problems. A $500 defamation claim can be too "small" in dollars and still be forbidden. A $50,000 unpaid invoice can be a simple debt and still be too large.

Subject-matter exclusions show up in almost every statute that was opened for this project. Arizona's small-claims section excludes defamation, forcible entry and detainer, specific performance, class actions, prejudgment remedies, injunctions, traffic and criminal cases, and claims against the state or a political subdivision. Ohio's small-claims section excludes libel, slander, replevin, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process, and it limits the division to taxes and money. Kentucky's statute excludes libel, slander, alienation of affections, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process, and it bars prejudgment attachment, garnishment, and replevin in the division. If your case is mainly about reputation, or about getting a specific item back through replevin, read these lists before you file.

Land is a frequent exclusion. Alaska's information sheet bars title disputes, possession of real property, and evictions. Maine's definition of a small claim does not include an action involving title to real estate. New Hampshire's definition excludes title to real estate. The District of Columbia's small-claims statute says an action that affects an interest in real property may not be brought in the branch, and a later real-property claim or defense is certified to the Civil Division. New Mexico's pamphlet says magistrate court cannot hear title or boundary disputes. West Virginia's magistrate statute allows unlawful detainer and wrongful occupation of a residence only so long as title is not in dispute. If the defense will be "I own this land," you are likely in the wrong court.

Eviction is not one national rule. Alaska's sheet excludes evictions. North Carolina's small-claim definition includes summary ejectment, which is how that state handles many possession cases, when the amount in controversy does not exceed the statute's line and the plaintiff asks for a magistrate. Delaware's Justice of the Peace Court hears landlord-tenant disputes. Indiana's manual says you may not use small claims to take possession under a land contract or to foreclose, and it points emergency landlord-tenant possession cases to their own statute. Use the form the clerk calls an eviction or a detainer, in the court the statute names. Do not assume "landlord" means "small claims."

Injunctions and orders to act are another boundary. An annotation printed with Wisconsin's small-claims statute cites a case for the point that the chapter does not authorize injunctive relief. Utah's courts page says you cannot ask the court to order someone to do something, such as give property back, and you cannot use small claims to evict or to sue a government agency. Texas's State Law Library says the judge awards financial compensation. Vermont's guide says the court cannot order anyone to do anything other than pay money. If you need a repair completed, a covenant enforced by an order, or a person kept away from a building, ask which court issues injunctions. Colorado's handbook does list restrictive covenants among the disputes small claims can hear, which shows why you read the local statute instead of a national list.

Discovery can take you out of the simplified track even when the dollars fit. Maryland says a case is a small claim only if it is for $5,000 or less, for money only, and you are not planning to use discovery such as interrogatories. If you need documents you cannot get any other way, the ordinary docket may be the honest choice.

Class cases and stacked claims are rejected in several codes. Oregon prohibits class actions in the small claims department. Louisiana prohibits them and caps the number of plaintiffs. Kansas excludes assigned and subrogated claims. Filing ten small cases to avoid a limit, or filing a class claim on a small-claims form, is the wrong court and sometimes the wrong kind of lawsuit entirely.

The right court is the one whose statute covers both the remedy and the amount, on the day you file. If this one does not, the ordinary civil docket of the trial court, or a specialized court for eviction, foreclosure, or claims against the government, is the filing that matches the dispute. Paying the small-claims fee does not move a case into a court that lacked jurisdiction when you started.