How to file in small claims court in indiana

You need to arrange to pick up the property. Indiana Legal Services uses the law to fight poverty, empower clients, and improve access to justice. Please consider donating to Indiana Legal Services. We are a not-for-profit corporation, and your donations are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. Skip to main content. Filing a Lawsuit in Small Claims Court. What is Small Claims Court? Do I need an attorney in Small Claims Court?

Where do I sue? How do I file the suit? What if I cannot afford the filing fee? What happens after I file? What happens at the hearing? The judgment creditor may seek enforcement of his judgment by any other method provided by law. The Notice shall be sent to the judgment creditor and debtor at the address shown on the Chronological Case Summary.

E Deleted, eff. F Effect of Judgment. A judgment shall be res judicata only as to the amount involved in the particular action and shall not be considered an adjudication of any fact at issue in any other action or court. A Proper Venue. B Motion to Correct Venue. When it appears that the county or township, in the case of small claims courts created pursuant to IC in which the action is pending is not the proper place for the hearing of such action, the court shall, on the motion of a party or upon its own motion, determine the correctness of the venue.

If the venue is incorrect the judge shall, at the option of the plaintiff, order the action to be transferred or dismissed without prejudice unless the defendant appears and waives the venue requirement. C No Waiver of Venue. No contract or agreement shall operate as a waiver of the provisions of this rule and the court shall treat any such attempt as being void.

Time to file Change of Judge. In any court exercising small claims jurisdiction, a party shall have ten [10] days from the date of service of the notice of claim to file a change of judge. When a change occurs a new judge shall be selected as provided in Trial Rules 79 or Small claims litigant's manual.

An informative small claims manual shall be formulated by the Judicial Conference of Indiana for distribution to the small claims courts. Each county shall reproduce such manual and shall make it available to every litigant and to such other persons or organizations as the court may deem appropriate.

Appointment of referee by circuit judge; compensation. The referee shall have such authority as the circuit judge shall assign by order. The referee shall be a finder of fact--the decision rendered will be that of the circuit judge. Such referee shall be paid reasonable compensation, including a mileage allowance to be determined by the appointing circuit court judge. In recommending to the Supreme Court of Indiana appropriate compensation, the appointing circuit court judge shall consider the estimated caseload, the amount of work time needed to fulfill the assigned duties, and any other relevant factors relating to the referee's duties.

Compensation shall be reasonably commensurate with the workload assigned. The amount authorized by the Supreme Court to be paid shall be paid by the state. Method of Keeping Records. Under the direction of the Supreme Court of Indiana, the Clerk of the Circuit Court may, notwithstanding the recordkeeping practices set forth for small claims proceedings, keep records in any suitable media. Order of Possession of Real Estate.

A Time for Requesting. An order of possession of real estate shall not be issued if more than thirty 30 days have passed since the judgment was issued.

Thereafter, a plaintiff seeking possession may do so by filing a new case. B Duration. An order of possession of real estate shall be effective for no more than thirty 30 consecutive days after its date of issue. The court shall indicate the specific date of expiration on the face of each order of possession. Scope; citation 1 Rule 2. Commencement of Action 1 Rule 3. Manner of service 2 Rule 4. Responsive pleadings 3 Rule 5.

Counterclaims 3 Rule 6. Discovery 3 Rule 7. Pretrial settlement 3 Rule 8. Informality of Hearing 3 Rule 9. Continuances 4 Rule Dismissal and default 4 Rule Judgment 5 Rule Venue 5 Rule Time to file Change of Judge 6 Rule Small claims litigant's manual 6 Rule Skip to Main Content. Loading Close. Do Not Show Again Close. Sign In. Small Claims Court The Small Claims Courts were created so that you would have a speedy, reasonably inexpensive and uncomplicated means of settling disputes and disagreements.

Before You File. Small Claims Jurisdiction. Attorneys in Small Claims Court. You must pay the fees at the time you file your case. If you win your case, the Defendant will be ordered to repay this money to you. If you do not win your case, this money will not be refunded to you. After reviewing your Motion, the Judge may waive all the filing fee or only some of the filing fee or may deny the Motion which means you must pay the entire filing fee.

This initial court date will most likely be on a Thursday morning at AM or afternoon at PM. The Defendant must be served with your Notice and Summons at least ten 10 days before this first court date. The Clerk will then send your Notice to the Sheriff for personal service or will send your Notice via Certified Mail, depending on which method of service you have chosen and for which you have paid.

This is now called an Alias Notice of Claim. Again, attach the same documents, if any, as you did with the original Notice of Claim and again make three 3 copies. You will file the Alias Notice of Claim under the same cause number as you did the original Notice of Claim. You do not have to pay another filing fee court costs. You do have to have another service fee to serve the Notice of Claim on the Defendant. You may withdraw or dismiss your claim any time before the trial.

But fees paid to the Clerk for filing and service upon the Defendant cannot be refunded. If you have questions about the procedures you must follow, ask the Clerk or Court staff for help. If you need legal advice, you must talk to an attorney.