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Small claims forms · North Dakota

North Dakota small claims court forms, filled in for you

Answer a few questions once. Vera fills in the North Dakota 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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If you were sued: your answer is due 20 days after you were served. Source: N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02 and the Claim Affidavit (Form 2): the Request for Hearing/Removal (Form 3) is due within 20 days of receiving the claim.

To sue (you're the plaintiff)

  • Claim Affidavit (Small Claims Form 2)

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

    What to know
    • Small claims court is a division of district court. A claim may be for money of $15,000 or less, or to cancel an agreement involving material fraud, deception, misrepresentation or false promise worth $15,000 or less (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-01), and no more than six years after the debt or the last payment (Form 1). "The plaintiff and the defendant may appear without counsel" (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-03). Once you file here you can't move the case to district court, and you give up any appeal (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-04).
    • Where to file: against an individual, in the county where the defendant lives (a bad check or an open account has its own rules); against a corporation, limited liability company or partnership, in any county where it has a place of business or where the claim arose; a claim arising from the defendant's lease of real property, in the county where the property is, unless you both agree in writing to another county (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-01(2); Form 1).
    • If the claim is for a residential security deposit: the landlord must deliver or mail an itemization of anything kept, with the amount due, within thirty days after the lease ends and you deliver possession, and "is liable for treble damages for any security deposit money withheld without reasonable justification" (N.D.C.C. 47-16-07.1(3), (4)).
    • This is the court's own Small Claims Court form: forms used in small claims court must be approved by the state court administrator (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02). The whole packet is Forms 1 to 8, "All Required Small Claims Court Forms (Print on Both Sides)" (ndcourts.gov, Small Claims).
    • Vera filled the county at the top when your court's name gives it, your name as plaintiff and the other side's name as defendant. Leave Case No. blank: the Clerk of Court assigns it when Form 2 and Form 8 are accepted for filing (Form 8 instructions).
    • From your answers in Court forms, Vera filled both addresses and phones, the total amount claimed, and the statement of your claim: why the money is owed, the date, how you figured the amount, and, if you ask for interest, the interest amount, rate and date it runs from, in your words (the form: "Give a SHORT statement of the claim, reasons for the claims, and the amount you are suing for"). The total is the amount you gave, without the interest: if the interest belongs in your total, change it yourself. If it is longer than the form's lines, the first line says "See attached page." and the full statement is on a page at the end: file it with the form (the form: "Attach additional sheet if necessary"). Check each one. Add each occupation, and any address or phone you skipped (the form).
    • It is signed under penalty of perjury (the form). Date it, write the county where you sign it, and sign it yourself; Vera never signs or dates a form.
    • If you are suing more than one defendant, Vera filled only the first: the form has one address block. "You must have the full name and address of each person (Defendant) you sue" (Form 2 instructions): add each other defendant's name after the first and their address, on an attached sheet if needed, or ask the Clerk of District Court how to list them.
    • File the signed Claim Affidavit with the Clerk of District Court, with a Form 8 "Affidavit of Identification" for each defendant, and "pay the $10.00 filing fee (on July 1, 2025, the filing fee is $20) before serving the Defendant" (Form 2 instructions). File copies of the documents (exhibits) that prove your claim with them (the court's Small Claims page).
    • Then have each defendant served with Form 1, the completed Form 2, blank Forms 3, 4 and 5, and Form 7: by certified mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested, or in person by the sheriff or by an adult who is not a party to or interested in the case (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02; Form 6). File the Form 6 "Affidavit of Service" with the signed green return card, or the sheriff's certificate, as soon as you get it (Form 2 instructions).
    • The defendant has 20 days from receiving the Claim Affidavit to file Form 3 with the Clerk of District Court. Count every day, including Saturdays, Sundays and North Dakota state holidays; if the last day is one of those, the deadline runs to the end of the next day that isn't (Forms 2 to 4). If the court gets no request for a hearing or removal in that time, no hearing is held and judgment may be entered against the defendant by default (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02).
    • If a hearing is requested, it is held not less than 10 days and not more than 30 days after the request, and the clerk sends notice of it. Only the court can change the time of a hearing. There is no jury and no appeal from the small claims decision (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02 to 27-08.1-04; Form 1). If you don't come to the hearing, your claim may be dismissed and you may be barred from bringing it again (Form 2 instructions).

If you were sued (you're the defendant)

  • Defendant's Request for Hearing/Removal to District Court (Small Claims Form 3)

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

    What to know
    • The defendant has 20 days from receiving the Claim Affidavit to file Form 3 with the Clerk of District Court. Count every day, including Saturdays, Sundays and North Dakota state holidays; if the last day is one of those, the deadline runs to the end of the next day that isn't (Forms 2 to 4). If the court gets no request for a hearing or removal in that time, no hearing is held and judgment may be entered against the defendant by default (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02).
    • Check one line: "I request a hearing in small claims court" or "I request removal of this action to District Court", and sign under it (the form). Vera checks nothing and never signs or dates a form. The Notice of Hearing half is for the judge or clerk.
    • Vera filled both names, the county when your court's name gives it, and the case number when your case has it. Copy them from the Claim Affidavit you were served if a blank is empty.
    • To remove the case to district court, file with the Clerk of District Court within the 20 days: this Form 3, a copy of the Claim Affidavit (Form 2), your answer (Form 4), and "The $80.00 filing fee (on July 1, 2025, the filing fee is $160.00), unless waived by the court", and serve the plaintiff with a copy of Form 3. If you remove it, the district court must award attorney's fees to a plaintiff who wins (Form 3 instructions; N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-04).
    • If you weren't sued in your North Dakota county of residence, you may generally have the case moved to the small claims court there, but not for an open account, a lease of real property or deposit dispute, or a political subdivision's utility debt (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-01(3); Form 1).
    • If a hearing is requested, it is held not less than 10 days and not more than 30 days after the request, and the clerk sends notice of it. Only the court can change the time of a hearing. There is no jury and no appeal from the small claims decision (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02 to 27-08.1-04; Form 1). Bring all receipts, evidence and witnesses. If you ask for a hearing and don't come, a default judgment may be ordered against you (Form 3 instructions).
    • This is the court's own Small Claims Court form: forms used in small claims court must be approved by the state court administrator (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02). The whole packet is Forms 1 to 8, "All Required Small Claims Court Forms (Print on Both Sides)" (ndcourts.gov, Small Claims).

  • Defendant's Answer/Counter Claim (Small Claims Form 4)

    Only if you want to answer in writing or claim money from the plaintiff.

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

    What to know
    • "You may appear on the date set for hearing without a written answer" (Form 4 instructions). You must still file Form 3 within the 20 days to get a hearing.
    • A written answer or counterclaim is filed with the Clerk of Court and served on the plaintiff not later than 48 hours before the hearing, by an adult who is not a party to or interested in the case or by certified mail (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-03). Form 5, the Affidavit of Mailing for Counterclaim, has the instructions for serving the plaintiff (Form 4 instructions).
    • A counterclaim is for money you believe the plaintiff owes you from the same transaction, and "can't exceed $15,000 in Small Claims Court" (Form 4 instructions).
    • Vera filled both names, the county when your court's name gives it, and the case number when your case has it. From your answers in Court forms it marked the statement that applies (1, you owe none of it; 2, only part; 3, all of it) and wrote why on the lines below it (for 2, first the amount you agree you owe, if you gave it), and, only if you said you are suing back, the counterclaim: the amount, what it is for, and when it happened if you gave the date. The form says "Initial the statement below that applies to you": write your initials on the line beside the marked box (the form). If your words are longer than the form's lines, the first line says "See attached page." and they are on a page at the end: file it with the form (the form: "Attach additional sheet if necessary").
    • It is signed under penalty of perjury (the form). Date it, write the county where you sign it, and sign it yourself; Vera never signs or dates a form.
    • This is the court's own Small Claims Court form: forms used in small claims court must be approved by the state court administrator (N.D.C.C. 27-08.1-02). The whole packet is Forms 1 to 8, "All Required Small Claims Court Forms (Print on Both Sides)" (ndcourts.gov, Small Claims).

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.