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Small claims forms · Texas

Texas small claims court forms, filled in for you

Answer a few questions once. Vera fills in the Texas 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: Justice courts live on eFileTexas; sworn papers need an image (TRCP 21(f)(7)). Forms sworn before a notary or the clerk are still signed by hand.

If you were sued: your answer is due 14 days after you were served. Source: Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(d).

To sue (you're the plaintiff)

  • Petition: Small Claims Case (Texas Justice Court Training Center, April 2021)Sign online

    The court's own form (docs.gato.txst.edu)

    What to know
    • This is the Texas Justice Court Training Center's "Petition - Small Claims Case" form, updated April 2021 (tjctc.org, Forms). Texas has no statewide court form. A court "may provide forms" but "must not require the use of such forms" (Tex. R. Civ. P. 507.2). If your justice court gives out its own petition, you may use either.
    • A small claims case is heard in a justice court. It is "a lawsuit brought for the recovery of money damages, civil penalties, personal property, or other relief allowed by law" for no more than $20,000, "excluding statutory interest and court costs but including attorney fees, if any". A suit by an assignee, a debt collector or collection agency, a financial institution, or a lender is a debt claim case instead (Tex. R. Civ. P. 500.1(a), (b)).
    • File in the justice court of the county and precinct where the defendant resides, where the incident (or most of the incidents) giving rise to the claim occurred, where the contract was to be performed, or, in a suit to recover personal property, where the property is. If the defendant is not a Texas resident or the residence is unknown, you may file where you reside (Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.4(b), (c)).
    • From your case, Vera typed you as Plaintiff and the other side as Defendant (with a second defendant you named, both names) in the caption, and the precinct and county only where your court's saved name gives them plainly ("Precinct 1", "Harris County"); otherwise write them in. The cause number is the clerk's: leave it blank (the form).
    • From your answers in Court forms, Vera typed the defendant's address, and a second defendant's name and address on the next line; the facts: what the money is for, when it happened, and how you added up the amount; the damages amount, with its box marked; when the defendant is a business, its registered agent's name and address as another address where it may be served; and your printed name, address, email and telephone under your signature. Check each against your papers.
    • Ongoing interest: Vera marks "does" or "does not" from your answer, and with "does" types the rate (only when you gave it as a plain number, such as 6 or 6%), the date it began accruing and the amount. Whether the rate is based on a contract or a statute, and the date the amount is "as of", are yours to fill (the form).
    • Still yours (the form): return of personal property and its value, anything else you ask for ("Additionally, Plaintiff seeks"), how the defendant is to be served (personal service, registered mail, or certified mail), the jury request, service by email (and the email address on its "Yes" line), and whether you can have hearings by phone or video. Vera marks none of these. Vera marks a box by putting the form's own boxed X in place of the empty square. Check the marks in Word before you print.
    • The petition gives the parties' names and addresses, the amount sought, any personal property sought and its value, and the basis for the claim. On filing, pay the filing fee and any service fees, or file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs, and provide enough copies to be served on each defendant (Tex. R. Civ. P. 501.1(d), 502.2).
    • The clerk issues the citation, and "The plaintiff is responsible for obtaining service" of it with a copy of the petition. It may be served by a sheriff or constable, a certified process server, the clerk by registered or certified mail, or a person 18 or older authorized by court order, never by a party or anyone interested in the case, and not on a Sunday. Service is in person, or by registered or certified mail, restricted delivery, with return receipt requested (Tex. R. Civ. P. 501.1(a), 501.2(a), (b), (d)).
    • For a residential security deposit: the landlord must refund it "on or before the 30th day after the date the tenant surrenders the premises", but need not do so until the tenant gives a written forwarding address. A landlord who in bad faith keeps it is liable for "the sum of $100, three times the portion of the deposit wrongfully withheld, and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees" (Tex. Prop. Code 92.103(a), 92.107(a), 92.109(a)).
    • A jury must be demanded in writing "no later than 14 days before the date a case is set for trial", with a $22.00 fee or a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (Tex. R. Civ. P. 504.1(a), (b)).
    • An individual may appear alone or with an attorney. A corporation or other entity may be represented by an employee, owner, officer, or partner who is not an attorney, or by an attorney (Tex. R. Civ. P. 500.3(a), (b)).
    • Vera never signs or dates a form for you. If you e-file on eFileTexas, you can sign it in Vera: open it in Court forms and choose Sign electronically, and your signature goes on as "/s/" and your name. Otherwise print it and sign it by hand as Plaintiff; the attorney's column is only for a lawyer. If you e-file in a justice court on eFileTexas, sign as that court's rules allow: an electronically filed paper counts as signed with "/s/" and your name typed where the signature goes, or with an image of your signature (Tex. R. Civ. P. 21(f)(7)).

If you were sued (you're the defendant)

  • Answer: Small Claims Case (Texas Justice Court Training Center, April 2021)Sign online

    The court's own form (docs.gato.txst.edu)

    What to know
    • This is the Texas Justice Court Training Center's "Answer - Small Claims Case" form, updated April 2021 (tjctc.org, Forms). Texas has no statewide court form. A court "may provide forms" but "must not require the use of such forms" (Tex. R. Civ. P. 507.2).
    • A written answer is required. It "is due by the end of the 14th day after the day the defendant was served with the citation and petition", or the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. If no answer is filed by then, the judge, after making sure service was proper, renders a default judgment (Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(d), 503.1(a)).
    • File the answer with the court and serve a copy on the plaintiff. It gives the defendant's name, address, and telephone number (or the attorney's). "An answer that denies all of the plaintiff's allegations without specifying the reasons is sufficient" and does not bar any defense at trial (Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.5(a), (b)). The form prints that general denial.
    • From your case, Vera typed the plaintiff as Plaintiff and you as Defendant in the caption, and the precinct and county only where your court's saved name gives them plainly ("Precinct 1", "Harris County"); otherwise write them in. Vera typed the cause number only if your case already has one. Check the caption against the petition you were served.
    • Vera typed your name after "My name is", and your printed name, address, email and telephone under your signature, from your answers in Court forms. If you told Vera you dispute all or part of the claim, it typed your reasons after "I dispute the claims in the petition for the following reasons", starting with the amount you agree you owe when you dispute only part. It typed them at the start of the form's lines, which stay for anything you add; long reasons push the pages after them down, so check in Word that the Certificate of Service stays together on its page before you print.
    • Still yours (the form): the defenses you claim, any additional information, the jury request, service by email (and the email address on its "Yes" line), and whether you can have hearings by phone or video. Vera marks none of these boxes.
    • The form has no counterclaim, and Vera did not type the one you gave in Court forms. A counterclaim within the justice court's jurisdiction, related or not, is filed separately as a petition with a filing fee or a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs and served on the plaintiff; no citation or answer to it is needed (Tex. R. Civ. P. 502.6(a)).
    • The Certificate of Service at the end is signed after you serve the plaintiff: fill in the date, how you served the answer, and your signature then. Vera fills none of it (the form; Tex. R. Civ. P. 501.4).
    • After the answer, the court sets the trial and sends notice of the date, time, and place "no less than 45 days before the setting date", unless the judge finds an earlier setting is required in the interest of justice (Tex. R. Civ. P. 503.3(a)).
    • A jury must be demanded in writing "no later than 14 days before the date a case is set for trial", with a $22.00 fee or a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (Tex. R. Civ. P. 504.1(a), (b)).
    • An individual may appear alone or with an attorney. A corporation or other entity may be represented by an employee, owner, officer, or partner who is not an attorney, or by an attorney (Tex. R. Civ. P. 500.3(a), (b)).
    • Vera never signs or dates a form for you. If you e-file on eFileTexas, you can sign it in Vera: open it in Court forms and choose Sign electronically, and your signature goes on as "/s/" and your name. Otherwise print it and sign it by hand as Defendant; the attorney's column is only for a lawyer. If you e-file in a justice court on eFileTexas, sign as that court's rules allow: an electronically filed paper counts as signed with "/s/" and your name typed where the signature goes, or with an image of your signature (Tex. R. Civ. P. 21(f)(7)).

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.