Small Claims Courts in Massachusetts

The district courts of Massachusetts conduct special small claims sessions under an informal procedure designed to give ordinary people access to the courts for resolving disputes.

This page contains some basic information about small claims actions, under these headings:

• Basic Information -- the basic information you need to know about small claims courts in Massachusetts
• Source Material -- links to statutes and court rules
• Advantages of Suing in Small Claims Court -- why you might want to bring a small claims action instead of a regular civil action in the district court or Superior  Court.
• Disadvantages of Suing in Small Claims Court -- why you might not want to bring a small claims action.
• How do I start a Small Claims Action?
• Suppose I've been sued in Small Claims Court?

Basic Information

Small claims are civil actions in which one party (the plaintiff) seeks to recover money from another party (the defendant). If you're the victim of a crime, winning a civil case will not result in the defendant going to jail. Contact the police or the district attorney if you're the victim of a crime.

A "small claim" is one involving $2,000 or less in money damages.

You can also go to small claims court to recover for property damage caused by a motor vehicle, regardless of the dollar amount.

You cannot sue in small claims court for slander or libel.

You can sue in the judicial district where you live (or have your usual place of business) or where the person you're suing lives (or has his or her usual place of business).

Actions against a residential landlord can be brought in the judicial district where the property is located, in the district where you live (or have your usual place of business), or in the district where the landlord lives (or has his or her usual place of business). That's potentially five different districts!

You do not need to hire a lawyer to sue in small claims court. Your case will probably be heard by a clerk-magistrate who will do his or her best to get to the truth of the matter in order to solve the problem that brings you to court.

Source Material

The small claims procedure is governed by G.L. c. 218, §§ 21-25 (this is how lawyers cite sections in the Massachusetts General Laws. It means "chapter 218, sections 21 through 25"). Click here to visit the official Massachusetts web site and begin reading the statute.

Special Small Claims Rules apply to court cases under the small claims statute. Click here to visit the official web site for the Trial Court of Massachusetts to read the Small Claims Rules. You can also click here to read the Small Claims Standards that contain the roadmap for court employees to follow when they handle small claims cases. (Note: you will need the Adobe® Reader® software to read the Small Claims Standards. Follow this link   to download it if you don't already have it on your computer.)

Small claims cases are heard in the district courts. Click here for a geographical list of district courts in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Bar Association has some additional information about small claims courts on its web site. Go to http://www.massbar.org and type in "small claims" in the search box. The Harvard University Small Claims Advisory Service has useful information as well. Do a Google search for "Massachusetts Small Claims" to tap into even more web resources. This official government site http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Pubs/smclaim.htm also has much worthwhile information.

Advantages of Suing in Small Claims Court

There are several advantages to suing in Small Claims Court.

• You do not need a lawyer, even if you are suing on behalf of your incorporated business. (Only a lawyer can represent a corporation in any other court. Varney Enterprises, Inc. v. WMF, Inc., 402 Mass. 79 (1988).)
• Strict rules of evidence don't apply. "Evidence, including hearsay evidence, may be admitted and given probative effect if it is the kind of evidence that reasonable persons are accustomed to rely upon in the conduct of serious affairs." Small Claims Standards ¶ 6:10.
• You can expect to have your case heard within one to three months, depending on the court's workload. Cases can take three years or longer in the Superior Court.
• If you sue in the judicial district where the defendant is located, the court will help you collect a judgment. Otherwise, you'll have to go through the frustrating and time-consuming process of enforcing the judgment yourself.

Disadvantages of Suing in Small Claims Court

There are also some disadvantages to suing in Small Claims Court:

• If you lose, there's no appeal. The defendant, however, (i.e., the person you're suing) can appeal to the district court for a jury or bench trial. The defendant's appeal must be based on a good faith claim that there are questions of law and fact that need to be tried. Furthermore, the small claims finding in your favor is prima facie evidence in your favor -- that means that you don't have to introduce any evidence at all in the district court retrial (but you would probably want to). See Todino v. Arbella Mutual Ins. Co., 415 Mass. 298 (1993). And note that you would have to hire an attorney to represent your incorporated business following an appeal to the district court.
• The defendant can defeat whatever tactical advantage you have from filing in small claims court by filing a motion to "remove" the case to the regular civil calendar in the district court. Daum v. Delta Airlines, Inc., 396 Mass. 1013 (1986). The statement in Small Claims Standard 5:01 that removal should only be seldom allowed was effectively overruled by the Daum decision. See Gozzo v. Anglin, 31 Mass. App. Ct. 936 (1991).
• You can't ordinarily obtain what lawyers call "discovery" of the other side's case in a small claim action. You may, of course, ask the court to allow discovery under Small Claims Rule 5. If the court refuses, you can then file a motion under Rule 4(a) to transfer the case to the regular civil docket, where discovery would be available. The court may then decide to grant your discovery request if the only reason you want to remove the case is so you can get discovery. See, e.g., Lyons v. Kinney System, Inc., 27 Mass. App. Ct. 386 (1989).
• Unless you're looking for money damages, you can't get a court order (an "injunction") that the defendant do or not do something that's harming you. On the other hand, the small claims court does have what's called "incidental equity jurisdiction" to enjoin the defendant as an incident to awarding you money damages.
• Except for motor vehicle property damage claims, you're limited to $2,000 in damages plus the amount you paid for filing the case. You lose your right to recover any amount over $2,000 for the same transaction or occurrence. Note that you cannot split your claim into $2,000 pieces in an attempt to get around this limit. See, e.g., Loguidice v. Passalacqua, 1992 Mass. App. Div. 210, 211 (Mun. Ct. 1992). On the other hand, the small claims court may award double or treble damages under a statute like G.L. c. 93A even if that would take the total damage award above $2,000.
• If you're suing a person or business who's outside Massachusetts, the court may require you to bring a regular civil action in the district court anyway. This is because the procedure prescribed for notifying the defendant about the action has been held insufficient to satisfy the statutory requirements for notice under the Massachusetts long-arm statute. See Schreiber v. Hoysgaard, 1989 Mass. App. Div. 138, 139 (S. Dist. 1989).
• Although you don't need to understand all the in's and out's of legal theory to pursue a claim, you do have an obligation not to file frivolous or vexatious claims. At a minimum, the clerk-magistrate can fine you $100 under Small Claims Rule 7(c) if you "set up a frivolous or misleading claim . . . or [otherwise seek] to hamper a speedy and fair determination of the claims." At worst, the defendant could countersue for malicious prosecution or abuse of process and recover all of the costs, including attorneys' fees, incurred in defending a claim. See Hubbard v. Beatty & Hyde, Inc., 343 Mass 258, 262-63 (1961); Gabriel v. Borowy, 324 Mass. 231, 236 (1949). Don't go there -- if there's any doubt at all, consult an attorney to make sure you have a legal right to recover. See Higgins v. Pratt, 316 Mass. 700, 710 passim (1944). Do not let your outrage tempt you into filing a lawsuit for which there is no legal basis.

How Do I Start a Small Claims Action?

The first thing to do is to visit the courthouse and speak with the Small Claims Clerk. Ask for advice, which should be freely given. The clerk will probably tell you the following:

• Determine the correct legal name of the defendant. If you're suing a business, go to http://corp.sec.state.ma.us/corp/corpsearch/corpsearchinput.asp to see if the business is a corporation. Also call the city or town clerk to see if someone has filed a "doing business" certificate in order to do business under an assumed name. If you're suing an out-of-state business, use Google to locate the Secretary of State in the defendant's home state and do a similar search. The name you need will be something like "XYZ Corp." or "John Doe d/b/a John's Pizza", depending on how the business was organized.
• Fill out a "Statement of Small Claim and Notice of Trial" form. Read the back of the form for important information.
• If you're suing an individual, you have an obligation to determine if he or she is on active military duty. Do not guess about the defendant's military status. If you don't know, cross out the Military Affidavit at the bottom of the form.
• File the statement, together with the required filing fee in cash. Filing fees change from time to time, so just ask the clerk what to do about that.
• Keep a copy of the form for your records.
• The court will "serve" the small claims complaint on you and on the defendant by mail. Pay attention to the copy you get in the mail because it will contain the date and time of the hearing.

On the hearing date:

• Show up! If you don't appear in court for the scheduled hearing, the action will be dismissed. You will have to show a good reason for missing the court date if you want to reopen the case later.
• Listen to the clerk! At the beginning of the session, the clerk will make a brief announcement about the procedure to be followed.
• Prove your case! Bring witnesses, documents, bills, receipts, photographs, and any other evidence you have to court with you. Although small claims procedure is informal, you do have to produce evidence showing that you're entitled to recover under the law. Even if the defendant doesn't show up, the clerk may ask for proof.
• Tell the truth! This, above all, is the best advice anyone can give you. You can lose the best case in the world by appearing to lie to the court. Plus you can go to jail for perjury.
• Forget what you've seen on TV. Most TV dramas greatly distort what happens in court. Court TV shows criminal trials, where the US Constitution and rules of evidence greatly constrain the way lawyers can act. The clerk will tell you what to do.

Suppose I've been sued in Small Claims Court?

If you receive a small claims summons, there are several things you should do right away:

• Read the back of the form! It contains important instructions, including a list of your options as a defendant.
• Consider whether you have any claims against the plaintiff arising out of the same transaction or occurrence. Even though Small Claims Rule 3(c) seems to say that no counterclaim is compulsory, prudence dictates that you assert any counterclaim you may have against the plaintiff. A court may later decide that whatever issue your counterclaim hinges on was actually decided against you in the small claims action, so that the doctrine of "issue preclusion" would prevent you from litigating that issue again later. See Donovan v. Ford, 1989 Mass. App. Div 219, 220 (S. Dist. 1989).
• If you're in any doubt about what to do, consult an attorney for advice about strategies for defense.
• Make a note of the scheduled hearing date.

Do not contact the plaintiff directly. Not only could you prejudice your case by saying something foolish, but you could also further inflame a tense situation. Most people only start lawsuits as a last resort, so the plaintiff is probably already angry. The court will help mediate the dispute, so just let the court do its job. The only exception to this advice would be if you know ahead of time that you can't get to court at the scheduled time. The court will reschedule the hearing if both you and the plaintiff agree. (Otherwise, you or someone acting on your behalf has to show up.)

On the hearing date:

• Show up! A default judgment will be entered against you if you don't. The default establishes all the well-pleaded material facts in the plaintiff's complaint, other than statements about the amount of damages. You will have to show a good reason for missing the court date if you want to remove the default later.
• Listen to the clerk! At the beginning of the session, the clerk will make a brief announcement about the procedure to be followed.
• Prove your case! Bring witnesses, documents, bills, receipts, photographs, and any other evidence you have to court with you. Although small claims procedure is informal, you do have to produce evidence showing that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover under the law.
• Tell the truth! This, above all, is the best advice anyone can give you. You can lose the best case in the world by appearing to lie to the court. Plus you can go to jail for perjury.
• Forget what you've seen on TV. Most TV dramas greatly distort what happens in court. Court TV shows criminal trials, where the US Constitution and rules of evidence greatly constrain the way lawyers can act. The clerk will tell you what to do.

If the plaintiff doesn't show up:

• Keep your evidence! The plaintiff may yet reopen the case, whereupon you'll have to go through this all over again. It doesn't sound fair, but bear in mind that the court has to treat both of you equally.

If you lose:

• Consider whether you have grounds for an appeal. An appeal will give you a chance to produce evidence that you left out of your small claims case or to argue points of law that you think were decided incorrectly. The clerk will tell you what procedure to follow in order to perfect an appeal. If he or she doesn't, ask.
• Consider what sort of payment plan you can afford. The court will not ask you to do the impossible. Be up-front about your ability to pay, and the court will cut you as much slack as it legally can.
• Pay the judgment. If you elect not to appeal, just pay the judgment on time and without causing the court or the plaintiff any more hassle. If you don't, your property could be attached or your wages garnished. You could even be arrested and brought into court if you continually ignore the court's orders about payment.