How it works
Six stages, in order. Most cases stop at stage one, which is the cheapest possible outcome for you.
Write and send a demand letter — free
Answer plain questions about what happened and who owes what. We produce a dated letter with the right legal hook for your claim type and a clear deadline. Download the PDF and send it yourself at no cost, or pay $29 and we print it and send it by USPS Certified Mail with an electronic return receipt, so delivery is provable.
Why this matters legally: California expects you to have asked the defendant to pay before you file. The SC-100 asks you to confirm it.
Check you are in time, and in the right court
Your deadline depends on the kind of claim: four years on a written contract, two on a verbal one, three on property damage, two on personal injury. Our deadline checker works it out from your dates. Venue is generally where the defendant lives or does business, or where the deal was made or performed — and every one of California's 58 counties has its own Superior Court.
Prepare and file your SC-100
The same answers fill SC-100, the Plaintiff's Claim. File the original plus at least two copies with the small claims division. The clerk takes the fee and assigns your hearing date.
California small claims filing fees by claim amount Amount you are claiming Filing fee up to $1,500 $30 over $1,500 up to $5,000 $50 over $5,000 up to $12,500 $75 More than 12 small claims filed in the past 12 months $100 If the fee is unaffordable, FW-001 asks the court to waive it, based on income, household size or public benefits.
Serve the defendant, and prove it
This is where self-represented cases most often fail. You cannot serve the papers yourself. Use the sheriff, a registered process server, or an adult who is not a party. Then file SC-104 before the hearing — a case with no valid proof of service on file does not go ahead. Our service deadline calculator tells you the date you have to beat.
Go to the hearing
No attorneys, on either side. You get a short time to explain it, so we generate a one-page script from your own facts: your opening, the order to hand up documents, and the questions judges usually ask. Bring three sets of everything.
Collect, if you win
Winning is not being paid, and the court does not collect for you. A California judgment lasts 10 years, is renewable, and earns 10% simple interest a year. SC-133 makes the debtor disclose assets, SC-134 compels them to court if they ignore it, and EJ-130 sends the sheriff to levy or garnish.
How long the whole thing takes
Realistically: a demand letter buys you two to three weeks for a reply. If you then file, hearing dates are typically set weeks out, and busier metropolitan counties run longer than rural ones. Collecting afterwards is open-ended and depends entirely on whether the defendant has anything to take.
We do not promise a timeline, because the court controls it and we do not.
What we do not do
- We do not give legal advice. We are software. We present general published information and fill in what you type.
- We do not file for you or appear for you. You file, you attend. That is how small claims is designed.
- We do not serve process. We tell you who can and what proof the court needs.
- We do not handle cases outside California. One state, properly.
Start with a demand letter
Most California small claims cases settle before anyone sees a courtroom. The letter is free to write, and you can have us print and certified-mail it for $29.
No account needed to start. We are not a law firm and cannot give legal advice.