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Small claims forms · Colorado

Colorado small claims court forms, filled in for you

Answer a few questions once. Vera fills in the Colorado court's own forms from your answers, walks you through anything left, and gives you one packet to file, with how to file it.

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To sue (you're the plaintiff)

  • Notice, Claim and Summons to Appear for Trial (JDF 250)

    The court's own form (www.coloradojudicial.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the Colorado Judicial Branch's form, one set in four parts: a court copy (page 1), the Defendant's Copy with the Defendant's Response on its back (pages 2 and 3), your copy with information for plaintiffs (pages 4 and 5), and a court copy with the Affidavit of Service (pages 6 and 7). The court's guide, JDF 248 Guide to Small Claims, lists the steps (the form; the guide).
    • Small claims court hears claims of up to $7,500, not counting interest and costs (C.R.S. 13-6-403(1)(a)). You may reduce a larger claim and give up the rest, but you cannot divide a claim into two cases, and you may file no more than 2 claims a month and 18 a year in one county (the form, Information for Plaintiffs, A; C.R.S. 13-6-411).
    • File in the county where a defendant lives, is regularly employed, is a student at an institution of higher education, or has a business office. A security deposit claim may also be filed in the county where the rental property is (C.R.S. 13-6-411.5; the form, item 2).
    • Vera filled the county, you as plaintiff, the other side as Defendant (1), and the case number on page 7 only if your case already has one. From your answers in Court forms it filled your address and the defendant's, a business's registered agent and address, item 1 (whether the defendant is in the military: Yes, No or Unknown, as you answered), item 2 "Yes" if you said the defendant lives or does business in this county, the amount owed, your reasons on the five lines, and a second defendant's name and address on the Defendant (2) lines if you named one. With a second defendant, Vera marks item 1 only if you answered "Yes" for the first; otherwise mark it for both. If your reasons are longer than the lines, the last line says they continue on a sheet added at the end, which has them in full. What you type repeats on every copy. Check each one (the form).
    • Still yours: the court's address, the Home, Work and Cell phone blanks (yours and each defendant's), a second defendant's registered agent if it is a business (the form has one agent line), item 2 if your reason for this county is another one, items 3 and 4 (service, whether you are an attorney), and a description of any property you want returned. Look up a business's registered agent at www.coloradosos.gov. Do not attach exhibits (the form; the guide, JDF 248).
    • Interest: the form has no separate blank for it. The amount after "owe(s) me $" "includes penalties, plus interest and costs allowed by law" (the form). Vera entered the amount you gave and none of your interest answers; check the amount against the form's words.
    • You sign under penalty of perjury, and date it. Vera never signs or dates a form. The form lets you type /S/ and your full name as an e-signature (the form's field notes).
    • File it with the clerk of the county court and pay the nonrefundable filing fee printed on the form: $31.00 for a claim of $500.00 or less, $55.00 for a claim over $500.00 but no more than $7,500.00 (the form, A.3). If you cannot pay, file JDF 205 Motion to Waive Fees and JDF 206 Order (the guide, JDF 248). The clerk fills in the trial date and signs the summons when you file (the guide, JDF 248, Step 1).
    • Each defendant must be served with the Defendant's Copy at least 15 days before the trial: by anyone 18 or older who is not a party, by the sheriff or a process server, or by certified mail sent by the clerk, whose cost you pay in advance (the form, B; C.R.S. 13-6-415). You cannot serve it yourself. The server completes the Affidavit of Service on page 7, and you file it with the court (the guide, JDF 248, Step 2).
    • No lawyer takes part unless a party is a lawyer, or the defendant or the defendant's lawyer files a Notice of Representation of Attorney (JDF 256) at least 7 days before the trial; then the other side may have a lawyer too (the form, item I; C.R.S. 13-6-407(2), (4)). A corporation appears through a full-time officer or employee, a partnership through an active general partner or full-time employee (C.R.S. 13-6-407(2)(a)(I)). In a security deposit case a property manager may represent the owner (C.R.S. 13-6-407(2)(b)).
    • If your claim is for a residential security deposit: the landlord must return it within 30 days after the lease ends or the home is surrendered, or a longer time the lease sets, up to 60 days, with a written statement of the exact reasons for anything kept. Wrongful retention makes the landlord liable for three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney fees and court costs, but only after you give the landlord at least 7 days' notice of your demand and your intention to sue (C.R.S. 38-12-103(1), (3), as amended by House Bill 25-1249, effective January 1, 2026, for conduct on or after that date).

If you were sued (you're the defendant)

  • Defendant's Response and Counterclaim, page 3 of the Notice, Claim and Summons (JDF 250)

    The court's own form (www.coloradojudicial.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the same Colorado Judicial Branch form the plaintiff filed. Your response goes in the Defendant's Response section on page 3, the back of the Defendant's Copy (page 2) (the guide, JDF 248, Step 3; the form). You can write on the copy you were served instead; this file repeats its caption so you can type.
    • If you wish to defend the claim or bring a counterclaim, file a written response or counterclaim with the court clerk on or before the trial date on your notice, give a copy to the plaintiff, pay the nonrefundable filing fee, and come to the trial with all your evidence and witnesses. If you do not appear, judgment may be entered against you (the form, Information for Defendants, B and D).
    • Filing fees printed on the form: a response without a counterclaim is $26.00 if the claim is $500.00 or less and $41.00 if it is more; with a counterclaim, $31.00 if the claim and counterclaim are each $500.00 or less and $46.00 if either is more (the form, A). If you cannot pay, file JDF 205 Motion to Waive Fees and JDF 206 Order (the guide, JDF 248).
    • Vera filled the county, the plaintiff, you as Defendant (1), and the case number on page 7 if your case has one. The Case Number box at the top of pages 1 to 6 has no field: copy the number by hand from the notice you were served, and check every name against it.
    • From your answers in Court forms, Vera filled the caption's addresses and, on page 3, why you do not owe the plaintiff (if you dispute the claim), your counterclaim's amount and reasons with the box "does not exceed ... $7,500.00" when it is $7,500 or less (only if you sue back), and your address and phone. If your reasons are longer than the lines, the last line says they continue on a sheet added at the end, which has them in full. Check each one (the form).
    • Still yours: the Home, Work and Cell phone blanks in the caption, a counterclaim box if yours is over $7,500, whether you are an attorney, and the date you mailed a copy to the plaintiff. The form has no blank for the part of the claim you agree you owe or the date your counterclaim arose, so Vera enters neither. You sign under penalty of perjury that it is true and that you mailed the copy (the form). Vera never signs or dates a form. The form lets you type /S/ and your full name as an e-signature (the form's field notes).
    • A counterclaim over $7,500 can stay in small claims only if you limit it to $7,500. To move the case to county or district court instead, mark that box, pay that court's filing fee, and file a Notice of Removal (JDF 251) at least 7 days before the trial (the form, page 3 and D; C.R.S. 13-6-408).
    • No lawyer takes part unless a party is a lawyer, or the defendant or the defendant's lawyer files a Notice of Representation of Attorney (JDF 256) at least 7 days before the trial; then the other side may have a lawyer too (the form, item I; C.R.S. 13-6-407(2), (4)). A corporation appears through a full-time officer or employee, a partnership through an active general partner or full-time employee (C.R.S. 13-6-407(2)(a)(I)). To have a judge instead of a magistrate hear the case, file an Objection to a Magistrate Hearing Case (JDF 259) at least 7 days before the trial (the form, J).

Checked against the court's own forms and rules. Courts change forms; check with the clerk before you file. This page is general information, not legal advice.