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Small claims forms · North Carolina

North Carolina small claims court forms, filled in for you

Answer a few questions once. Vera fills in the North Carolina 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: eCourts Guide & File (Gen. R. Prac. 5(b)(3)). Forms sworn before a notary or the clerk are still signed by hand.

To sue (you're the plaintiff)

  • Complaint For Money Owed (AOC-CVM-200)Sign online

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

    What to know
    • This is the Administrative Office of the Courts' form for a small claim heard by a magistrate. "The clerk or magistrate cannot advise you about your case or assist you in completing this form" (AOC-CVM-200, Side Two).
    • "The PLAINTIFF must file a small claim action in the county where at least one of the defendants resides" (AOC-CVM-200, Side Two, item 1), in the office of the Clerk of Superior Court (G.S. 7A-213). Vera filled the county from your court's name, and the File No. only when your case already has one; before you file, leave the File No. for the clerk (the form).
    • "The PLAINTIFF cannot sue in small claims court for more than $10,000.00 excluding interest and costs. This amount may be lower, depending on local judicial order" (AOC-CVM-200, Side Two, item 2; G.S. 7A-210).
    • Vera filled you as plaintiff, the other side as Defendant 1, and your name under "Name Of Plaintiff Or Attorney (type or print)". From your answers in Court forms it filled your address and phone, Defendant 1's address and phone, the Individual box when the other side is a person and the Corporation box when you said the business is a corporation, and, if you told Vera about a second defendant, Defendant 2's name and address. Check each one. Add your county and each defendant's county, Defendant 2's phone, and whether Defendant 2 is an individual or a corporation; the form needs both addresses if two defendants live apart (Side Two, item 3). Sue a corporation in its complete corporate name; if a business is not a corporation, sue the owner (Side Two, item 4). For any other kind of business Vera leaves the Corporation box (the form).
    • From your answers Vera also filled item 2, the reason the defendant owes you, and your amount as the Principal Amount Owed. Check that it is the principal alone. It checked the kind of claim only where the form's box says it: For Money Lent for a loan, On An Account for an unpaid bill or account; if you are asking for interest, it filled the Interest Owed, and on that box's line the Date From Which Interest Due and the Interest Rate you gave. If a different box fits better (a promissory note, a worthless check, goods sold and delivered), check that one instead and move the dates and rate to its line. For any other claim check "Other: (specify)" and say what it is; Vera writes nothing there (the form).
    • Still yours: the interpreter question and the Total Amount Owed, which is the principal plus any interest (the form's own calculation adds them in a PDF viewer that runs it; check it). Attach a copy of the account, note or check where the form says so (the form).
    • Vera never signs or dates a form. Date and sign it after you print it. The complaint is "signed by the party or his attorney" (G.S. 7A-216); "a party in a small claim action shall not be required to obtain legal representation" (G.S. 7A-222(c)). The "Plaintiff's Attorney" lines are for a lawyer, if you have one (the form).
    • File it with the Magistrate Summons (AOC-CVM-100) and a copy for each defendant. "The PLAINTIFF must pay advance court costs at the time of filing this Complaint"; a plaintiff who cannot pay may apply to sue as an indigent under G.S. 1-110(a) (Side Two, item 8). Vera does not know the amount.
    • A natural person is served by the sheriff delivering the summons and complaint or leaving them at the home with a person of suitable age and discretion who lives there, after you pay the service fee, or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, signature confirmation or a designated delivery service; for mail you file a sworn statement, such as the AOC-CV-105, with the postal receipt (Side Two, item 5; G.S. 7A-217). A corporation or other entity is served under G.S. 1A-1, Rule 4(j) (Side Two, item 6).
    • The trial is set not later than 30 days after the action is commenced; if it is set earlier than five days after the summons is served, the magistrate continues it (G.S. 7A-214). After service the clerk sends you written notice of the magistrate, time, date and place of trial (G.S. 7A-213). "Whether or not an answer is filed, the PLAINTIFF must appear before the magistrate" (Side Two, item 10).
    • If the claim is for a residential security deposit: the landlord must mail or deliver an itemized list of any damage with the balance of the deposit no later than 30 days after the tenancy ends and possession is delivered, or an interim accounting then and a final one within 60 days (G.S. 42-52); a willful failure voids the landlord's right to keep any of it, and the court may award attorney's fees (G.S. 42-55).

  • Magistrate Summons (AOC-CVM-100)

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

    What to know
    • This is the Administrative Office of the Courts' form, filed with the Complaint For Money Owed (AOC-CVM-200); the clerk issues it once the action is assigned to a magistrate, and its issuance commences the action (G.S. 7A-213).
    • "The PLAINTIFF must file a small claim action in the county where at least one of the defendants resides" (AOC-CVM-200, Side Two, item 1), in the office of the Clerk of Superior Court (G.S. 7A-213). Vera filled the county from your court's name, and the File No. only when your case already has one; before you file, leave the File No. for the clerk (the form).
    • Vera filled you as plaintiff, the other side as defendant and as Defendant 1 under "TO", and your name under "Name And Address Of Plaintiff Or Plaintiff's Attorney". From your answers in Court forms it filled your address there, and Defendant 1's address and phone. If you told Vera about a second defendant, it filled Defendant 2's name and address; add Defendant 2's phone, and add the second defendant's name after the first under Defendant(s) at the top. Check them (the form).
    • Leave the dates, the Date, Time and Location of trial, and the Date Issued and signature for the clerk (the form; G.S. 7A-213). Side Two, the Return Of Service, is for whoever serves it (the form).
    • The summons tells the defendant to appear at the trial and that they "may file a written answer, making defense to the claim, in the office of the Clerk of Superior Court at any time before the time set for trial" (AOC-CVM-100).

If you were sued (you're the defendant)

  • A written answer is optional: you may file one at any time before the time set for trial, and not filing one counts as a general denial of the complaint (G.S. 7A-218).
  • Filing an answer "DOES NOT relieve the defendant of the need to appear before the magistrate to assert the defendant's defense" (AOC-CVM-200, Side Two, item 9).
  • A counterclaim may not take the amount in controversy over $10,000, and not filing one does not bar the claim in a separate action (G.S. 7A-219).
  • Either party may appeal: give notice in open court when the judgment is rendered, or in writing to the Clerk of Superior Court within 10 days, and pay the costs of appeal within 20 days (AOC-CVM-200, Side Two, item 11).

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.