(a) Each
Town, Village and City Justice Court shall schedule at least one session every
other week for the hearing of small claims and may allocate some portion of
every session of court specifically for the hearing of such claims as defined
in the UJCA. During the times designated for the hearing of small claims, the
court shall sit as a small claims part. In those courts having more than one
judge, each judge shall participate equally in the handling of small
claims.
(b) A small claims action
shall be commenced by a plaintiff or someone on his or her behalf paying the
filing fee as provided in UJCA 1803, and by supplying to the clerk the
following information:
(1) plaintiff's name
and residence address;
(2)
defendant's name and place of residence, or place of business or employment;
and
(3) the nature and amount of
the plaintiff's claim, giving dates and other relevant
information.
(c) The
justice or clerk shall reduce this information to a written statement, on a
form provided therefor, and shall record it in his or her office. The statement
shall be in nontechnical, concise and simple language, and shall be signed by
the person who shall have supplied the information contained therein.
(d) The justice or clerk shall give to the
person who signed the statement a memorandum of the time and place set for the
hearing, which shall be not less than 22 nor more than 45 days from the date
the action is recorded, and shall advise such person to produce at the hearing
the supporting witnesses, account books, receipts or other documents required
to establish the claim.
(e) Within
five days after the action is recorded, the clerk shall send to the defendant
by ordinary first class mail and by certified mail, return receipt requested,
addressed to one or more of the addresses supplied as shall be deemed
necessary, a signed notice bearing the seal of the court, which shall be in
substantially the following form:
JUSTICE COURT OF THE VILLAGE, TOWN OR CITY OF
...................................................
COUNTY OF
...................................................
SMALL CLAIMS PART
TO:
...................................................
Take Notice that __ asks judgment in this Court against you
for $__, together with costs, upon the following claim:
..........................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................
There will be a hearing before the Court upon this claim on
__ 19, at _ o' clock _M., in the Small Claims Part, held at __
You must appear and present your defense and any
counterclaim you may desire to assert at the hearing at the time and place
above set forth (a corporation must be represented by an attorney or any
authorized officer, director or employee). IF YOU DO NOT APPEAR, JUDGMENT WILL
BE ENTERED AGAINST YOU BY DEFAULT, EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY HAVE A VALID DEFENSE. If
your defense or counterclaim, if any, is supported by witnesses, account books,
receipts or other documents, you must produce them at the hearing. The Clerk,
if requested, will issue subpoenas for witnesses, without fee thereof.
If you wish to present a counterclaim against the claimant,
you must do so by filing with the Clerk of the Court a statement containing
such counterclaim within five days of receiving this notice of claim. At the
time of such filing you must pay the Clerk a filing fee of $3.00 plus the cost
of postage to send your counterclaim by first class mail to the claimant. If
you fail to file a counterclaim within this five- day period, you retain the
right to file the counterclaim until the time of the hearing, but the claimant
may request and obtain an adjournment of the hearing to a later date.
If you admit the claim, but desire time to pay, you must
appear personally on the day set for the hearing and state to the Court your
reasons for desiring time to pay.
Dated: __, 20_
Clerk
A Guide to Small Claims Court is available at the court
listed above.
NOTE: If you desire a jury trial, you must, before the day
upon which you have been notified to appear, file with the Clerk of the Court a
written demand for a trial by jury. You must also pay to the clerk a jury fee
of $10 and file an undertaking in the sum of $50, or deposit such sum in cash
to secure the payment of any costs that may be awarded against you. You will
also be required to make an affidavit specifying the issues of fact which you
desire to have tried by a jury and stating that such trial is desired and
demanded in good faith.
Under the law, the Court may award $25 additional costs to
the plaintiff if a jury trial is demanded by you and a decision is rendered
against you.
(f) The justice
or clerk shall note, on the statement referred to in subdivision (b) of this
section, the date on which the notice was mailed and the address, the date of
delivery shown by the return receipt and the name of the addressee or agent
signing the receipt.
(g) If service
of notice cannot be effected upon the defendant within four months of the date
when an action was first instituted, the action shall be dismissed without
prejudice.
(h) Unless the court
shall otherwise order, a defendant to whom notice was duly given who fails to
appear at the hearing on the day and time fixed either in person or by attorney
shall be held to be in default, except that no default shall be ordered if the
defendant or his attorney appears within one hour after the time
fixed.
(i) If at the hearing it
shall appear that the defendant has a counterclaim in an amount within the
jurisdiction of the part for the hearing of small claims, the justice may
either proceed forthwith to hear the entire case or may adjourn the hearing for
a period of not more than 20 days or as soon thereafter as practicable, at
which adjourned time the hearing of the entire case shall be had. An
adjournment shall be granted at the request of the claimant if the defendant
did not file the counterclaim with the court within five days of receiving the
notice of claim.
(j) An oath or
affirmation shall be administered to all witnesses. The court shall conduct the
hearing in such manner as it deems best suited to discover the facts and to
determine the justice of the case. If the plaintiff, or an attorney in his or
her behalf, does not appear at the time set for hearing, the court may dismiss
the claim for want of prosecution or enter a finding on the merits for the
defendant, or make such other disposition as it may deem proper.
(k) Where, after a claim is filed with the
clerk, either party to the action desires to implead one or more additional
defendants, the clerk shall, upon receipt of the proper fees, issue and mail a
notice of claim to each additional defendant under the procedure set forth
above.
(l) The undertaking to be
filed by a defendant desiring a jury trial shall be in the form prescribed by
the relevant provisions of article 25 of the CPLR.
