A Small Claims Court, otherwise known as people court, is a court where no lawyer or attorney is required to represent the disputing parties.  A person uses the services of a Small Claims Court to take legal action against an individual, company, trust, insurance company or corporate to settle disputes that have arisen between them.   The Small Claims Court in Pinellas County has jurisdiction restricted to the County and the disputed amount should be $5000 or less.  A court clerk can help in filling the appropriate forms and applying for a claim in the prescribed format however, the clerk cannot offer any legal advice.

Following are the steps to be followed while filing a case in the Small Claims Court in Pinellas County.  A legal action form should be filled in. The form can be obtained either online from the court’s website or at the Small Claims Court County Clerk’s office.  The person applying for a claim needs to be 18 years and above, and in case of minors, they need their parents or guardians to claim on their behalf.  All names, addresses, signatures and other details of the defendant need to be researched and written correctly in the form.  Providing wrong names or details or omission of details would cause a delay in the process of the judgment or the judgment being worthless, since the money cannot be collected. If the claim is related to an estate, then name of the estate and its details need to be provided. In case of trusts, the trust’s name as well as the trustee’s names needs to be provided.  An employee other than the president, vice president or secretary of the company needs to obtain an authorization form or letter from the company to be attached to the claims form before submission.

Claims at the Pinellas County Small Claims Court can be made for vehicle accidents, dishonored checks, breach in contract terms, non-payment of rent or loans, damage to property, non-refund of security deposit or to recover possession of personal property.  The Pinellas County court would charge a fee at the time of submission the form as well as charges for sending summons to the defendant.  A summons will not be considered served until the clerk receives a return receipt certified by the defendant.  The Pinellas County court has two steps in hearing a small claims dispute – a pre-trial conference and a final hearing.

For further information on the rules of filing small claims in Pinellas County, you can visit the website of the county clerk of court. If you need legal advice, you can contact a local attorney.