Handling a case in small-claims Court really shouldn't be too hard for anyone you'll have a good experience if you just remember these three things be prepared make a solid presentation and understand your collection options one important suggestion to keep in mind though is that you should learn how to collect on a judgement as the court can do it for you so let's get started the form used to file a small claims case is called either a plaintiff's claim and order to defendant or a plaintiff statement depending on which county you file your case in the clerk will give you the date for your hearing right then you must use the defendants exact legal name in your suit you can use the county recorders computers to track down the official identities of business owners by looking up their fictitious business statements a fictitious business name statement reveals who the owners are that run the business in addition to the county clerk's fictitious business name index you can also find out who the owners of a business partnership or corporation are through the city's business licensing bureau the city or county tax assessor's office or the Secretary of State you must sue in the right venue that means the proper Court for your case the right court to file in may be where the buyer lived when the contract was first entered into where the defendant lives where the business involved is located where the buyers signed the contract or where the contract was carried out where the damage occurred or accident happened or where the goods or vehicle are permanently kept you can have the papers served on the defendant in several different ways one way is to have someone who is 18 years of age or older who is not a party to the lawsuit and the papers to the defendant themselves a person must be served before the scheduled hearing day another way to have the other party served is to use a professional process server who may deliver the notice or the sheriff may serve the papers another way to have the other party served is to have the court clerk's send the notice by certified mail if you can't serve the papers personally you'll have to try a different process called substituted service in this situation you can leave the papers at the defendants home or usual place of business with a person who is 18 years or older or with the person in charge at the defendants place of business during normal office hours the process server must tell the person being served what the papers are for a copy of the papers must also be mailed to the defendant by first class mail that same day to the place where the papers were left it's important to remember that substitute service is only considered to be completed on the 10th day after the mailing it's a good idea to sit through a small claim session before your actual court date I found that prepared me for the quick pace of the court proceedings I was surprised to find out that most of the hearings lasted only 15 minutes and being...
