Small claims court in New York City, borough by borough

NYC CIVIL COURT ACT § 1801

The $10,000 limit and what it covers.

Section 1801 of the New York City Civil Court Act sets the small claims cap in the five boroughs at $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs. That is double the limit in the rest of the state's city and district courts and more than three times the limit in town and village courts, which makes NYC small claims a genuinely useful forum for mid-sized disputes: a $7,500 contractor deposit, an $8,000 unpaid freelance invoice, a $9,900 loan to a former business partner.

The cap is on the principal you claim. If you are owed $11,500 you can waive $1,500 and sue for $10,000 in small claims, or bring the full amount in the Civil Court's regular part (which hears claims up to $50,000) with formal pleadings and rules. You cannot split an $11,500 debt into two small claims. More on that trade-off in small claims limits in NY.

Small claims in NYC is money only. No eviction, no order to return a car, no order to finish the renovation. If you need property back, see getting your belongings back; if a contractor abandoned the job, see contractor took your deposit.

Which borough: the NYC venue rule.

In words: the defendant must live, work, or have a place of business somewhere in New York City, and you file in the county (borough) where that residence, job, or business is. Your own address does not matter. A Queens resident suing a Manhattan dry cleaner files in New York County. A Bronx resident suing a former roommate who moved to Staten Island files in Richmond County.

If the defendant has no residence, employment, or business in the five boroughs, NYC small claims cannot hear the case even if the transaction happened in the city. You would sue where the defendant is, which for a Nassau defendant means district court and for a Westchester defendant means a city, town, or village court. The exception that helps most people: a business with any NYC location, office, or regular place of work is reachable here.

The five clerks' offices:

• Manhattan (New York County): 111 Centre Street.
• Brooklyn (Kings County): 141 Livingston Street.
• Queens: 89-17 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica.
• Bronx: 851 Grand Concourse.
• Staten Island (Richmond County): 927 Castleton Avenue.

Confirm hours and addresses on the court system's website before you go; the clerks move occasionally and the small claims window often closes earlier than the building.

Filing in person, by mail, or online.

You can file at the clerk's window, by mail with the court's small claims form, and for many case types through the court system's electronic filing portal for small claims. The fee is fifteen dollars for claims up to $1,000 and twenty dollars above that, payable by cash, certified check, money order, or card at the window. No fee waivers are usually needed at this level, but a poor-person application exists if you cannot pay.

The form wants the defendant's full legal name and address in the borough. For a business, use the Department of State entity database, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection license lookup for licensed trades, or the name on the lease, receipt, or contract. If the business has a trade name and a corporate name, list both, for example "Apex Kitchens d/b/a Apex Renovations Corp."

You must also give a brief statement of the claim. Dollar amount, date, and one or two sentences of why. The clerk will not give legal advice but will tell you if the form is incomplete.

Service by the clerk and the first court date.

The clerk mails the notice of claim to the defendant by certified mail and by ordinary first-class mail. If the ordinary mail is not returned within the statutory period, the defendant is considered served even if the certified mail was refused or ignored. If both come back as undeliverable, the clerk will notify you and you will need a better address; you may then arrange personal service through a process server or a friend over eighteen who is not a party, and file proof of service.

The notice sets the hearing date, usually four to eight weeks out, at an evening session in the county where you filed. It also tells the defendant that they may file a counterclaim, which they can do for a small fee within a few days of receiving the notice or at the hearing; if they counterclaim at the hearing you may ask for an adjournment to prepare.

Evening sessions and the arbitrator choice.

NYC Civil Court hears small claims at night, typically calling the calendar at 6:30 p.m. Arrive by 6:00, check in with the clerk, and find your case on the posted calendar. The room will be crowded; a single session can carry a hundred or more cases.

When the calendar is called you answer "ready" or ask for an adjournment. Then the choice: an arbitrator or the judge. Arbitrators in NYC are volunteer attorneys with years of experience who hear small claims cases in smaller rooms off the main courtroom. The arbitrator's decision is final and cannot be appealed. The judge's decision can be appealed, within narrow limits, to the Appellate Term. In practice the overwhelming majority of claimants choose the arbitrator, because the alternative is often a long wait followed by an adjournment to another night.

Either way, the hearing is informal and short. Tell the story in order, hand up exhibits as you mention them, answer questions directly, and do not interrupt the other side. Rules of evidence are relaxed; texts, emails, photos, and written estimates are routinely accepted. The decision is mailed, usually within a few weeks.

Interpreters and access.

The court provides interpreters at no charge in any language, including American Sign Language. Request one when you file, or call the clerk at least a week before the hearing; Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, and Haitian Creole interpreters are usually on site for evening sessions, while less common languages may be provided by phone or require a rescheduled date. All five courthouses are wheelchair accessible, and the court will accommodate disability-related requests through its ADA liaison if you ask in advance.

Marshals vs. sheriffs: collecting an NYC judgment.

Winning gives you a judgment. Collecting it is on you, and New York City gives you two kinds of enforcement officer:

• City marshals are private officers appointed by the mayor and regulated by the Department of Investigation. They enforce judgments for a fee (a statutory poundage, generally five percent of what they collect, plus mileage and expenses, which the debtor ultimately owes). Marshals are typically faster and more aggressive than the sheriff for bank levies, income executions, and vehicle seizures.
• The New York City Sheriff is a city agency that also enforces judgments, with the same legal powers, usually at lower fees but with a longer queue.

Before either can act, you need the defendant's assets located. The court will give you an information subpoena to send to the debtor and to banks or employers, a restraining notice to freeze a known bank account, and a transcript of judgment to docket with the county clerk for a lien on any real property. The full sequence, with the timing, is in how to collect a small claims judgment in NY. If the debtor is a business that ignores the judgment, the Civil Court Act adds leverage: you may report the unpaid judgment to its licensing agency, and a pattern of unpaid small claims judgments can expose the business to treble damages in a later action.

What a demand letter does here.

NYC small claims is cheap to file but expensive in time: an evening at 111 Centre Street, a possible adjournment, a second evening, then mail, then collection. A demand letter on attorney letterhead costs a flat fee and none of that time. It states the amount, the legal basis, the interest that is accruing, the borough and courthouse where the claim will be filed, and a deadline. Most debtors who receive one either pay, negotiate, or reveal in writing that they have no money, and each of those outcomes is useful.

If the letter is ignored, you file with the letter as Exhibit A. The arbitrator sees that you asked in writing and were stonewalled, which matters for credibility and sometimes for interest. Our flat-fee demand letter page explains the process; the NYC filing kit picks up where the letter leaves off.

When not to bother with a letter: the statute of limitations runs out this month, the debtor has already defaulted on a prior judgment you know about, or the amount is a few hundred dollars. File. For businesses suing in their own name, see commercial claims in NYC; for disputes where you are considering a letter instead of court entirely, see demand letter vs. small claims.