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Small claims forms · Minnesota

Minnesota small claims court forms, filled in for you

Answer a few questions once. Vera fills in the Minnesota 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: eFS, statewide. Forms sworn before a notary or the clerk are still signed by hand.

To sue (you're the plaintiff)

  • Plaintiff's Statement of Claim (CCT102)Sign online

    The court's own form (mncourts.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's statewide Plaintiff's Statement of Claim (CCT102, Rev 10/20). Every conciliation court administrator must accept the uniform form when it is properly completed and filed with the fees, and court administration must help you complete it if you ask (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 507(a), (b); Minn. Stat. § 491A.02, subds. 1, 2).
    • Conciliation court hears claims of up to $20,000, or $4,000 if the claim involves a consumer credit transaction; it does not hear evictions (Minn. Stat. § 491A.01, subds. 3a, 4). File in the conciliation court of the county: its reach is generally that county, with exceptions such as a claim against two or more defendants in a county where one of them lives, and a landlord and tenant damages claim in the county where the rental property is (Minn. Stat. § 491A.01, subds. 3a(c), 8, 9).
    • Vera filled the county and the judicial district only when your court's name says them, the court file number if your case has one, you as Plaintiff and Plaintiff #1, the other side as Defendant and Defendant #1, and your name under the signature. From your answers in Court forms it filled both addresses and your phone and email under the signature. Check them all; with more than two plaintiffs or defendants check the box on page 1 and use the Additional Litigants Form (CCT702) (the form).
    • From your answers, Vera also marked Defendant #1 as an individual or a business, and, for an individual, the military service box your answer decides (item 2a). In item 3 it marked Money and filled the amount the defendant owes you, the month and year it happened and what happened, in your words; what does not fit on the lines is on an attached sheet. Check each one (the form).
    • If you told Vera about a second defendant, it filled Defendant #2's name and address (item 2b); mark whether Defendant #2 is an individual or a business and, for an individual, the date of birth and military service yourself. If you said you are suing no one else, it wrote 1 in item 2 (the form).
    • The form has no blank for interest. If you are asking for interest, say so in what happened, with how much, the rate and from when (the form, item 3).
    • Still yours: how many plaintiffs (item 1), how many defendants if there is more than one (item 2), Defendant #1's date of birth or Unknown (item 2a i), the filing fees and costs and the total claim, which is the amount owed plus the fees and costs (item 3), and a Property claim instead of or besides money (the form). Vera fills none of these.
    • Each plaintiff signs under penalty of perjury and adds the date, the county and state where signed, and title (if any), date of birth, phone and email (the form; Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 507(a)). Vera never signs or dates a form; it filled your phone and email from your answers.
    • Pay the filing fee and the law library fee when you file. A person who cannot pay may file an affidavit claiming inability to pay instead (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 506); the court's form is CCT104 (mncourts.gov, Conciliation/Small Claims Court forms).
    • The court administrator sets the trial at least 28 days after the summons is mailed or served and mails it to a defendant in Minnesota by first class mail. If the claim is over $2,500, you must serve the summons on the defendant by certified mail (or personal service) and file proof of service within 60 days after it is issued, or the case is dismissed without prejudice. For a defendant outside Minnesota the administrator sends you the summons to serve within the same 60 days (Minn. Stat. § 491A.01, subd. 3a(c); Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 508(a), (d)). Prove your service with an affidavit of service (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 508(e)); the court's form is CCT103 (mncourts.gov, Conciliation/Small Claims Court forms).
    • In a consumer credit case, if you and the defendant have written to each other electronically (email, text, chat or voicemail), also tell the defendant the hearing date, time and place that way, and file an affidavit saying so before the hearing (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 508(d)(5)).
    • You may have a lawyer, who may take part in the trial as far as the judge finds helpful. A corporation, partnership, LLC, sole proprietorship or association may appear by an officer, manager or partner, or appoint an employee (or a commercial property manager); an employee's authority (such as a power of attorney or corporate authorization resolution) must be filed with the claim or shown at the trial (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 512(d); Minn. Stat. § 491A.02, subd. 4). The court's power of attorney form is CCT701 (mncourts.gov, Conciliation/Small Claims Court forms).
    • Submit all digital exhibits through the Minnesota Digital Exhibit System (MNDES) and share them with the other parties no later than 3 days before the trial, or the court may not consider them (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 512(b)).
    • If you do not attend on your hearing date, your case may be dismissed and you may have to pay the defendant on any counterclaim (the form, item 4).
    • If the claim is for a residential security deposit: within three weeks after the tenancy ends (five days after a condemnation), and after getting the tenant's mailing address, the landlord must return the deposit with interest or give a written statement of the reasons for keeping it. A landlord who does not is liable for an amount equal to the part withheld, plus interest, as a penalty in addition to the deposit wrongfully withheld; bad faith retention adds punitive damages of up to $500 per deposit, and bad faith is presumed unless the deposit is returned within two weeks after the case is started (Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subds. 3, 4, 7).

If you were sued (you're the defendant)

  • Defendant's Statement of Counterclaim (CCT202)Sign online

    Only if you have your own claim against the plaintiff.

    The court's own form (mncourts.gov)

    What to know
    • You do not file an answer. The summons requires you to appear at the trial; if you do not, judgment by default may be entered against you (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 508(b)(2), (3)).
    • This is the Minnesota Judicial Branch's statewide Defendant's Statement of Counterclaim (CCT202, Rev 7/26), for a claim of your own against the plaintiff, related to the plaintiff's claim or not, within the conciliation court's limit of $20,000 ($4,000 for a consumer credit transaction). It is heard on the same date, time and place as the plaintiff's claim (the form; Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 509(a), (c); Minn. Stat. § 491A.01, subd. 3a).
    • Not less than 14 days before the trial date you must do all of these: file the counterclaim, pay the fees or file the affidavit in place of fees, and serve it on the plaintiff by certified mail and file proof of service. A counterclaim filed or served later is not heard without the judge's permission (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 509(b), (d), amended effective July 1, 2026).
    • If your claim from the same events is more than the conciliation court's limit, you may instead file an affidavit, not less than 14 days before the trial, that you have started or will start within 28 days a case in a court that can hear it; the plaintiff's case is then taken off the calendar (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 510).
    • Vera filled the county and the judicial district only when your court's name says them, the court file number if your case has one, the plaintiff as Plaintiff and Plaintiff #1, you as Defendant and Defendant #1, and your name under the signature. From your answers in Court forms it filled both addresses and your phone and email under the signature. Check them all; with more than two plaintiffs or defendants check the box on page 1 and use the Additional Litigants Form (CCT702) (the form).
    • If you answered that you are suing the plaintiff back, Vera marked Money in item 2 and filled the amount the plaintiff owes you, the month and year it happened if you gave the date, and what happened, in your words; what does not fit on the lines is on an attached sheet. Check them (the form).
    • Still yours: which plaintiffs your counterclaim is against, each one's type (individual or business), date of birth and military service (item 1); in item 2, the filing fees and costs and the total claim; a Property claim instead of or besides money; and "There is only 1 defendant" on page 4 (the form). Vera marks and fills none of these.
    • Each defendant joining the counterclaim signs under penalty of perjury and adds the date, the county and state where signed, and title (if any), date of birth, phone and email (the form; Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 507(a)). Vera never signs or dates a form; it filled your phone and email from your answers.
    • You may have a lawyer, who may take part in the trial as far as the judge finds helpful. A corporation, partnership, LLC, sole proprietorship or association may appear by an officer, manager or partner, or appoint an employee (or a commercial property manager); an employee's authority (such as a power of attorney or corporate authorization resolution) must be filed with the claim or shown at the trial (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 512(d); Minn. Stat. § 491A.02, subd. 4). The court's power of attorney form is CCT701 (mncourts.gov, Conciliation/Small Claims Court forms).
    • Submit all digital exhibits through the Minnesota Digital Exhibit System (MNDES) and share them with the other parties no later than 3 days before the trial, or the court may not consider them (Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 512(b)).

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.