A tenant left the place trashed. A contractor took the deposit and never came back. Somebody wrote you a bad check. The amount is real money to you, but it is not enough to justify a full-blown lawsuit — so what do you do?
For a lot of Hoosiers, the answer is small claims court. Here is how it works in Indiana, and what to think about before you file.
The basics
- The cap is $10,000. For claims filed on or after July 1, 2021, Indiana small claims are limited to $10,000 or less (IC 33-28-3-4 for a circuit court small claims docket; IC 33-29-2-4 for a superior court small claims division). Ask for more than that and the case belongs on a regular civil docket.
- You file in the right county. Generally where the defendant lives or where the transaction or injury happened.
- The rules are simplified, not suspended. You still have to prove your case, and you still have to serve the other side properly.
- You usually cannot recover attorney’s fees. There are exceptions — a written agreement that provides for fees, or a bad check case — but assume the fees are yours.
What small claims court is good for
The Indiana Small Claims Manual (published by the Indiana courts) lists the common categories, all capped at $10,000:
- personal injury
- damage to personal property or real estate
- landlord and tenant disputes, if the rent due at filing is within the cap
- money owed — bad checks, unpaid wages, services rendered, accounts receivable
- return of wrongfully taken property, or money paid for faulty work
- emergency possessory actions between a landlord and tenant under IC 32-31-6
What it is not for
You cannot use small claims court to take possession of real estate under a land contract, and you cannot bring a foreclosure action there. Those belong in circuit or superior court as a regular civil case.
Watch the clock
A good claim filed too late is a lost claim. Some of the most common Indiana limitations periods:
| Type of claim | Time limit |
|---|---|
| Personal injury | 2 years |
| Damage to personal property | 2 years |
| Accounts; contracts not in writing | 6 years |
| Rent and use of real estate | 6 years |
| Damage to real estate | 6 years |
| Recovery of personal property | 6 years |
| Promissory notes / contracts to pay money | 6 years |
The clock generally starts when the contract is broken, or when the injury or damage happened — not when you noticed it.
Five things that decide small claims cases
- Documents beat adjectives. The lease, the invoice, the text messages, the photos with dates. Bring copies for the judge and for the other side.
- Know who you are suing. An individual, or a company? Get the exact legal name — a judgment against a business name that does not exist is hard to collect.
- Service matters. If the defendant was never properly served, you will be back for another hearing.
- Do the math out loud. Have a one-page total: what you paid, what you lost, what it cost to fix.
- Think about collection before you file. A judgment is a piece of paper. Ask yourself how it actually gets paid.
A local note
Around here, small claims dockets run in the circuit and superior courts in Greene, Monroe, Lawrence, and Owen counties, and local practice varies more than people expect — how the docket is called, how evidence gets handed up, how continuances are treated. People do represent themselves in small claims court, and many do it well. Where an attorney tends to help is on the front end: whether you have a claim, whether it belongs in small claims at all, and what proof you actually need.
If you are weighing a small claim, or you have been served with one, call the office at 812-269-2641 or email office@jsuttonlaw.com and we can talk through where it fits. Outcomes depend on the facts and the evidence, and no lawyer can promise you a result.
This post is general information about Indiana law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.