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Small claims forms · Maryland

Maryland small claims court forms, filled in for you

Answer a few questions once. Vera fills in the Maryland 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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Sign online where the court accepts it. E-filing: MDEC (Rule 20-107); sworn papers need a signature image. Forms sworn before a notary or the clerk are still signed by hand.

If you were sued: your answer is due 15 days after you were served (60 if I was served outside Maryland, or my business was served through the State Department of Assessments and Taxation). Source: the Notice of Intention to Defend on the writ of summons (DC-CV-001BR).

To sue (you're the plaintiff)

  • Complaint/Application and Affidavit in Support of Judgment (DC-CV-001)Sign online

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

    What to know
    • This is the District Court of Maryland's form (mdcourts.gov, District Court forms).
    • A small claim is a claim for money only of $5,000 or less, not counting interest, costs and attorney's fees, and the District Court alone hears it (Courts and Judicial Proceedings 4-405). The booklet adds that a small claim asks for no discovery such as interrogatories (DC-CV-001BR). Vera marked "$5,000 or under" or "over $5,000" from the amount you gave in Court forms, and the kind of action only where your answer is the form's word: "contract" if you said the claim is about an agreement or contract, "tort" if it is about damage to your property or an injury. For a loan, an unpaid bill, rent, a security deposit or something else, Vera marks neither: mark the kind of action yourself (the form).
    • File in the District Court for a county where the defendant lives, carries on a regular business or is employed (Courts and Judicial Proceedings 6-201; DC-CV-001BR). Vera chose the court's location at the top only when your court's name says which, and then filled its address as the form's own list gives it. Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery, Prince George's and Worcester have more than one location, so check it (the form).
    • Vera filled your name as the plaintiff, the other side as defendant 1, and your printed name under the signature. From your answers in Court forms it added your address and telephone, and the defendant's address and telephone; for a business with a registered agent, Vera adds the agent as its resident agent in the defendant's box. Leave the case number blank: the clerk fills it in when you file (DC-CV-001BR). Check that each defendant's name is full and correct, and add any other defendants on lines 2 to 4 (DC-CV-001BR). If you named a second defendant in Court forms, Vera put their name and address in box 2.
    • You are not required to use a lawyer (DC-CV-001BR). Without one, the court's small claims booklet says to put your own name, address and telephone in the attorney block, followed by "pro se", and that if you represent yourself you may not claim attorney's fees (DC-CV-001BR). A business may appear through an officer, partner, LLC member or designated employee when the claim is within the small claim limit and was not assigned to it by someone else (Business Occupations and Professions 10-206(b)(4)).
    • From your answers, Vera filled the particulars of your claim, the principal you claim, and your address, telephone and email under the signature. Check each one. If you said you are asking for interest, Vera filled the pre-judgment interest's rate (only when you gave it as a yearly percentage), the date it runs from, and "Total Principal + pre-judgment interest" (your principal plus the interest amount you gave). Still yours: whether it is at the legal rate or a contractual rate, the "to" date, the days and the amount per day, post-judgment interest, attorney's fees (not for a person without a lawyer), the service box for each defendant, and whether you are interested in mediation (the form; DC-CV-001BR).
    • The Military Service Affidavit is required by federal law before an affidavit or default judgment (DC-CV-001BR). Vera marked the box your answer decides: that the defendant is in the military service, with the name, or "I am unable to determine whether or not any defendant is in military service". If the defendant is not in the military, mark "No defendant is in the military service" yourself and give the facts supporting it, as the form requires; you can check at scra.dmdc.osd.mil and mark "Verified through DOD" (the form).
    • If you have supporting documents, complete the Application and Affidavit in Support of Judgment and attach copies (the form; DC-CV-001BR). Vera fills none of it.
    • The complaint and both affidavits are made under the penalties of perjury, and the court will not accept the complaint without your signature (the form; DC-CV-001BR). Vera never signs or dates a form: sign and date it yourself.
    • For each defendant, mark how to serve: certified mail, private process (any adult who is not a party), constable or sheriff. The court issues a Writ of Summons with the trial date; if proof of service does not reach the court within the time the defendant has to file a Notice of Intention to Defend, you may not be able to present your case on the trial date. An unserved summons is renewed with a Request for Summons/Summons Renewal (DC-CV-010) (DC-CV-001BR).
    • The filing fee for a small claim (contract or tort) is $44.00; service by the sheriff or constable is $60 for each defendant, or $20 for each defendant if the clerk mails it; in Baltimore County constables serve and the check is payable to District Court (District Court Cost Schedule, DCA-109). Bring one copy of the complaint and exhibits for the court and one for each defendant (DC-CV-001BR).
    • If your claim is for a residential security deposit: the landlord must return it with interest, less damages rightfully withheld, within 45 days after the tenancy ends; if the landlord, without a reasonable basis, fails to, the tenant has "an action of up to threefold of the withheld amount, plus reasonable attorney's fees" (Real Property 8-203(e)).

If you were sued (you're the defendant)

  • If you disagree with all or part of the claim, file the Notice of Intention to Defend printed at the bottom of the writ of summons the clerk issues. File it within 15 days after you are served, or 60 days if you were served outside Maryland or, for a business, through the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) (DC-CV-001BR).
  • If you do not file it, a judgment could be entered against you (DC-CV-001DBR; DC-CV-001, back page).
  • A counterclaim is due within 10 days after the time for filing the Notice of Intention to Defend. Its filing fee in a small claim is $18.00 (DC-CV-001DBR; DCA-109).
  • If you cannot pay the fees, file a Request for Waiver of Prepaid Costs (CC-DC-089) (DC-CV-001DBR).
  • To have witnesses at trial, ask the clerk for subpoenas at least two weeks before the trial date, and bring all your evidence. You may request a remote hearing (DC-CV-001, back page).

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.