The Wake County small claims court has the jurisdiction to hear any civil disputes in the county where less than $ 5000 is involved. The court usually resolves minor cases like house rent disputes, money debts, and recovery of personal property. The procedure of the court is quite simple and you can present your case yourself, without the help of an expensive attorney. However, if you want professional help anyway, you can contact a local attorney.  

In order to file a small claims case in Wake County, North Carolina, you must get an information packet from the court Clerk’s office. These information packets contain several forms for filing small-claims. There are different forms that you need to fill up depending on the nature of your claim. There are separate forms for money debt recovery, eviction from property, return of personal property and voluntary dismissal. You can get copies of these forms online at the Wake County Clerk of Court’s webpage.  You need to fill out these forms and then deposit a fee of $71 with the clerk of the Wake County court for filing your small claim. There is an additional $15 fee per defendant, which is to be paid at the Sheriff’s Department of Wake County.

In order to file a small claims case in Wake County, either the incident must have occurred in the county or the person, or company you are suing must be based here. In case the defendant is a corporation, the claim can only be filed in the county if the company is based here or has a registered office and conducts business in the area. After filing the claim, a copy of the claim form has to be sent to the defendant by certified or registered mail. You may use the bailiff services of the court. You may also hire a process server to deliver the claim copy directly to the defendant.

Some courts issue a tentative date of hearing when you file the claim, while others verify that the person you are suing has received the claim copy before fixing a date. After filing a case in the Wake County court, a litigant cannot claim monetary damages of an amount more than the court can award. In such a case, the court would have no choice but to dismiss the case as it would be beyond its jurisdiction to award the high sum of money to the litigant.

For further details regarding filing small claims in Wake County court you can visit the website of the Wake County Clerk of Court.