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Small claims forms · Oregon

Oregon small claims court forms, filled in for you

Answer a few questions once. Vera fills in the Oregon 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: UTCR 21.090 On paper: UTCR 2.010(5)(b) Forms sworn before a notary or the clerk are still signed by hand.

If you were sued: your answer is due 30 days after you were served. Source: ORS 46.455 and the Notice on the Small Claim and Notice of Small Claim.

To sue (you're the plaintiff)

  • Small Claim and Notice of Small Claim

    The court's own form (www.courts.oregon.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the Oregon Judicial Department's official statewide form (OJD OFFICIAL, Jan 2026). It starts the case, and the clerk issues it as the notice to the defendant (ORS 46.425, 46.445(1)).
    • The amount claimed, including the value of property, must be $10,000 or less. A claim of $750 or less must be filed in small claims (ORS 46.405(2), (3); Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs).
    • File in the court for the county where at least one defendant lives or can be found, where the damage, claim or injury occurred, or where the defendant was to perform under the contract (Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs). Vera fills the county only when your court's name gives it, and the case number only if your case already has one. Complete the county name at the top of the first page of each form, and write all names first, middle, last (Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs).
    • Vera filled you as plaintiff and the defendant in the caption, the first Name under PLAINTIFF and under DEFENDANT, and your printed name on page 2. From your answers in Court forms it filled both streets, cities and phones, your email on page 2, the date, the amount (also on the "Claim $" line), and why it is owed; if the defendant is a business and you gave its registered agent, the agent's name and address on page 2; and if you said the business is a government agency, the "Defendant is a public body" box (the form; Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs). Check each one. If why it is owed is longer than the form's lines, the first line says "See attached page." and it is in full on a page at the end: file it with the form.
    • If you are suing more than one defendant, Vera filled only the first: check "Additional on attached page" under DEFENDANT and give each other defendant's name, street, city, state, ZIP, phone and county on a page you attach (the form). The form has no line for interest: the tally's total also adds the fees and costs, and Vera leaves it to you.
    • Still yours: each party's county, the agent's phone and county, the fees and costs you paid and the total, and the boxes that apply (interpreter, public body if Vera did not mark it, UTCR 5.180). The Declaration of Good Faith Effort on page 2 is yours: describe how you tried to collect the claim from the defendant before filing (the form). Vera writes none of it.
    • Sign and date the declaration on page 2: you declare the statements are true and are subject to penalty for perjury (the form; ORS 46.425(2)(c)). Vera never signs or dates a form.
    • On page 3 fill in the court's name, address and phone, and the defendant's filing fees, which the form says "must be filled in by the PLAINTIFF" (the form). The filing fee is $57 when the amount claimed is $2,500 or less and $102 when it is more; a defendant who denies the claim and demands a hearing pays the same fee (ORS 46.570; Oregon Circuit Court fee schedule, effective January 1, 2026).
    • Bring the Claim and Notice and the Defendant's Response form, with the party names filled in, to the court with your filing fee (Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs).
    • You serve the defendant after filing: by the sheriff or a private process server, by a competent adult 18 or older who is not a party, a party's lawyer or a party's employee, or by certified mail marked "Deliver to Addressee Only" and "Return Receipt Requested". File the Certificate of Service within 63 days of filing, or the case may be dismissed (ORS 46.445(3); Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs).
    • The defendant has 30 days after service to pay, demand a hearing or demand a jury trial; if they do not, you may ask for a default judgment. If they demand a hearing, the court mails you its date (ORS 46.445(4), 46.455; Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs).
    • No attorney may appear for a party in the small claims department without the judge's consent (ORS 46.415(4)). A party that is not a natural person, such as a business, may appear without an attorney (ORS 46.415(5)).
    • If the claim is for a residential security deposit: the landlord must return it, or give a written accounting of what is kept, within 31 days after the tenancy ends and you deliver possession, and you may recover twice the amount withheld without that accounting or in bad faith (ORS 90.300(12), (13), (16)).

  • Small Claims – Defendant's Response (for the defendant, with the party names filled in)

    The court's own form (www.courts.oregon.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the Oregon Judicial Department's official statewide form (OJD OFFICIAL, Jan 2026). It is the defendant's form: "Fill in the party names on the Defendant's Response form" and bring it to the court with the Claim and Notice (Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs).
    • Vera filled the caption only: the county when your court's name gives it, the case number if your case has one, you as plaintiff and the defendant. Leave everything else for the defendant.
    • Serve it on the defendant with the Claim and Notice (Small Claims Instructions for Plaintiffs).

If you were sued (you're the defendant)

  • Small Claims – Defendant's ResponseSign online

    The court's own form (www.courts.oregon.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the Oregon Judicial Department's official statewide form (OJD OFFICIAL, Jan 2026).
    • Within 30 days after you were served, do one of these in writing: pay the claim plus the plaintiff's filing fees and service costs, directly to the plaintiff; deny it and demand a hearing, with the fee; or, if the claim totals more than $750, demand a jury trial, with the fees. If you do not, the plaintiff may get a default judgment for the claim, fees, service costs and a prevailing party fee (the Notice of Small Claim; ORS 46.455; Instructions for Responding to a Small Claim).
    • Mark your choice. You can mark both Denial of Claim and Counterclaim, but if you pay the claim, mark only that and attach proof of payment; there is no fee for paying (Instructions for Responding to a Small Claim).
    • A counterclaim must arise out of the same transaction or event as the plaintiff's claim. One over $10,000 is struck unless you also file a motion to transfer the case to circuit court (the form; ORS 46.461).
    • Check the county, case number and names against the claim you were served. Vera filled the plaintiff and you as defendant, the county when your court's name gives it, the case number if your case has one, and your printed name, and from your answers in Court forms your email, street, city and phone. Each defendant files a separate response, except spouses and registered domestic partners (the form).
    • If you said you disagree with all of the claim, Vera marked Denial of Claim; choose hearing or jury trial yourself. If you disagree with only part of it, the form has no box for that: decide whether to deny it and demand a hearing, or pay. If you said you are suing back, Vera marked Counterclaim and filled the amount, the date it arose if you gave it, and why the plaintiff owes it (on a page at the end if it is longer than the lines); add the date if it is blank. Payment of Claim is yours to mark (the form).
    • Sign and date it. Vera never signs or dates a form. File it with the clerk of the court where the plaintiff filed, with the fee; the court then mails you the hearing notice (Instructions for Responding to a Small Claim).
    • The filing fee is $57 when the amount claimed is $2,500 or less and $102 when it is more; a defendant who denies the claim and demands a hearing pays the same fee (ORS 46.570; Oregon Circuit Court fee schedule, effective January 1, 2026). If you are low-income, you can apply for a fee deferral or waiver (Instructions for Responding to a Small Claim).
    • No attorney may appear for a party in the small claims department without the judge's consent (ORS 46.415(4)). A party that is not a natural person, such as a business, may appear without an attorney (ORS 46.415(5)).

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.