2024 California Small Claims Court Limit

Having a hard time figuring out how much to sue for in California small claims court? In this article, we cover how to calculate how much to sue for in small claims.

Did you know one of the first steps before suing is to send a demand letter? Use our free tool to help you write a demand letter. Check out our demand letter tool.

Cases filed after January 1, 2024:

• If you are suing as an individual or sole proprietor, you can sue for a maximum of $12,500

• If you are suing on behalf of a corporation or LLC, you can sue for a maximum of $6,250.

Sources: Senate Bill No. 71, signed by the Governor on October 13, 2023, and California Code of Civil Procedure Sections 116.220 and 116.221.

Cases filed before January 1, 2024: $10,000 if you are an individual or sole proprietor and $5,000 if you are suing on behalf of a corporation or LLC.

Ready to sue in small claims court? Review our step-by-step guide to California small claims.

If you are owed more than the maximum amount you can sue for in California small claims, you agree to waive any additional amount you are owed. See California Code of Civil Procedure Section 116.220(d). For example, you lent someone $15,000, but they have not paid you back. By suing in small claims, you are agreeing to waive $2,500.

Other options: sue in Limited Civil Court.

Before filing in California small claims, you are required to "demand payment" before filing your lawsuit. See #4 on the SC-100.

Tips:

• Demand payment for the full amount you are owed even if it is more than the maximum you can sue for. During this step, there is still the possibility the other party will pay you for the full amount.

• Double-check how much you demanded payment for. If you initially demand payment for less than the amount you sue for, you may want to demand payment again for the amount you are suing for. The goal behind the demand payment requirement is to allow the other party to resolve the problem out of court and to know how much you will be suing them for.

• Send a demand letter. While you can meet the demand payment requirement by calling the person or business you are suing, you may want to consider sending a demand letter as it is more formal. A letter helps you (1) have clear evidence for the hearing in case the other party states that you never demanded payment from them (2) the other party may take you more seriously and resolve the problem out of court with a formal letter.

Did you know we have a free tool powered by AI that helps you create a demand letter? Check out our demand letter tool.

Here is a video on how our demand letter tool works:

The law is silent on the minimum amount that you can sue for, but in general, you need to list an amount above $0 that you are suing for or you risk the court clerk rejecting your lawsuit for filing.

Suing for the return of property: In general, small claims court is a court where a judge cannot require another party to return your property (this is known as "injunctive relief") unless there is a specific law that authorizes this. See California Code of Civil Procedure Section 116.220(a)(5). Instead, you need to determine how much the property is worth and sue for the amount of the property.

As you prepare your California small claims lawsuit, you need to determine how much to sue for and how you calculated the amount you are suing for. You will be asked the following questions on the SC-100 "Plaintiff's Claim and Order to Go to Small Claims Court" page 2:

• Why does the defendant (the person you are suing) owe the plaintiff (you) money?

• The plaintiff (you) claims the defendant (the person you are suing) owes $______.

• How did you (the plaintiff) calculate the money owed to you? (Do not include court costs or fees for service.)

Use Receipts:

The most obvious way to calculate how much you are owed by the person you are suing is to look for your receipts, invoices, bank account, etc. for the amount of money you have lost.

Here are some examples:

• You bought an item, but never received it. How much did you pay for the item?

• You hired a contractor to fix your roof, but they never showed up to fix it. How much did you pay the contractor to fix your roof?

• Someone hit your car and you had to pay money to fix your car. How much money did you pay to fix your car?

• You paid a mechanic to fix your engine but the mechanic damaged your car's paint job while fixing the engine. How much will it cost another mechanic to fix the car's paint job?

• You gave your landlord a $3,000 security deposit, but your landlord did not return the security deposit. How much was the security deposit (normally found on your lease)?

• Your neighbor damaged your fence and it will cost money to fix or buy a new fence. How much will the new fence cost?

• You lent a friend money but they haven't paid you back. You have a bank transfer of $1,000 to your friend.

• Your ex-boyfriend took your car. How much is your car worth?

Judges like to see proof of how you are calculating your numbers. Make sure you bring to the hearing all evidence that shows exactly how you calculated what you are owed. Providing arbitrary numbers is extremely risky if you cannot explain how you calculated them.

Punitive Damages:

In general, small claims court isn't meant for you to come out winning more than what you are owed. The exception to this rule is when there is a law that provides you can sue for more money than what you paid as a punishment to the person you are suing. This is sometimes referred to as "punitive damages."

‍Some laws require you directly bring it up in your lawsuit that you are requesting punitive damages, other times, even if you don't know about a law that gives you punitive damages, the judge can add punitive damages on their own even if it isn't requested on the lawsuit.

Here are some examples:

• Security Deposits. You can sue for 2x the amount of your security deposit if your landlord did not return your security deposit in "bad faith."

• Towing. If your car is towed and the towing company did not provide proper notice to local law enforcement, you may be able to sue for 3x the amount of the towing and storage charges.

• Airline. If you are bumped off a flight because the airline overbooked it, you may be entitled to additional money depending on the circumstances (this isn't really punitive damages, but an amount set by law).

To prove that you are owed this additional amount of money, you need to make sure your evidence is in order. There is usually a requirement of showing that the person you are suing acted in a very bad way and the best way to show this is through evidence you have collected.

You can find more of these laws by running a Google search or consulting an attorney.

When in doubt, sue for your best estimate:

It can be hard to determine exactly how much you are owed, but you should make your best effort by using receipts as listed in the section above. Ultimately, it is up to the judge to decide how much you are owed.

In general, it is better to overestimate than to underestimate how much you are suing for. Why?

• Notice to the other party. If you underestimate, but the judge thinks you are owed more, some judges may decide to only give you the amount you sued for as the other party wasn't aware that they stood to lose more money (they become aware of how much you are suing for when they are delivered a copy of the lawsuit at the serving step).

• It is time-consuming to amend a lawsuit. While you can update the amount you are suing for after you file your small claims lawsuit (this is known as an "amendment"), it isn't recommended as you will spend more time and money preparing and filing the amendment. In general, you should amend your lawsuit before the hearing if you need to sue for more. If you need to sue for less, you can let the judge know at the hearing instead of amending the lawsuit.

The judge DOES NOT expect you to:

• Be an attorney or have the same level of knowledge as an attorney.

• Pay an attorney to help you calculate how much to sue for.

• Conduct hours of extensive research to determine the amount you are owed.

The judge DOES expect you to:

• Base your numbers on how much you have lost.

• Have your receipts, invoices, and any evidence in order.

• Be able to tell them in your own words how much you are suing for and how you calculated that amount.

Here are some common mistakes when determining how much to sue for in small claims:

• Not asking for the full amount you are owed. For example, you only sue for $6,000 but you are actually owed $10,000. The judge may not give you more because you did not put the person you are suing on notice that they may stand to lose $10,000 (you only notified them that they could lose up to $6,000). That said, some judges will give you more even if you sued for less.

• Using arbitrary numbers in your calculations. For example, the judge asks you why you are suing for $10,000 and you say "I don't know the person I am suing is a bad person and they should pay the maximum." Here is a better way: "I am suing for $10,000 because that is the amount I paid to fix my car after the person I am suing hit my car."

• The evidence is disorganized. You show up to the hearing with your receipts in your purse or backpack and expect the judge to add them up for you. Instead, you can use our judge-friendly evidence packet tool and organize your receipts with dates, titles, and amounts.

• Can you add attorney fees to your lawsuit? It depends on your contract, review your contract to determine if there is a section on attorney fees. Make sure you bring a copy of your contract to the hearing. Additionally, some laws allow you to recover attorney fees. When in doubt, ask the judge if you can recover the amount of money you paid an attorney.

• Can you add court fees to your lawsuit? The SC-100 under number 3(c) states NOT to include court costs. You can let the judge know you would like to be reimbursed and the judge will decide at the hearing.

• Can you add serving costs to your lawsuit? The SC-100 under number 3(c) states NOT to include fees for serving the other party. You can let the judge know you would like to be reimbursed and the judge will decide at the hearing.

• Can I sue for pain and suffering? You can sue for whatever you would like to sue for, it is up to the judge to decide whether you can win for pain and suffering. You need to make sure you have enough evidence to prove this to the judge. In general, it tends to be hard to prove pain and suffering (normally pain and suffering claims require expert witnesses and "discovery" which are better suited for Limited Civil Court or Unlimited Civil Court).

• Can I add time spent working on the small claims lawsuit? You can sue for whatever you would like to sue for, it is up to the judge to decide whether you can win for time spent working on the small claims lawsuit. You need to make sure you have enough evidence to prove this to the judge.

• How can I be more sure of the amount I am suing for? Conduct a Google search or hire an attorney to help you determine this. The judge knows you are not a lawyer and does not expect you to be a lawyer. They know you are not an expert at determining how much you are owed but they do want you to bring all your evidence to the hearing so that they can determine how much you are owed.

Did you know one of the first steps before suing is to send a demand letter? Use our free tool to help you write a demand letter. Check out our demand letter tool.

Further Learning: How to Win in California Small Claims Court