Small Claims Standards: 1:00 Purpose of the standards

The Administrative Office of the Trial Court issues these Standards to assist judges, clerk-magistrates and other personnel of the District Court, Boston Municipal Court, and Housing Court Departments in implementing recently amended Trial Court Rule III, Uniform Small Claims Rules (effective January 1, 2002).

These standards represent recommended practices for the small claims procedure in the Boston Municipal Court, District Court, and the Housing Court Departments of the Trial Court. Their purpose is:

1. To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the small claims procedure;
2. To improve the process by which small claims judgments are satisfied while respecting the due process rights of defendants;
3. To make small claims procedures uniform throughout the Commonwealth and more accessible to all;
4. To expand community awareness and understanding of the small claims process.

Commentary

The stated goal of Massachusetts small claims procedure is to provide a simple, prompt, informal, and inexpensive mechanism for the resolution of monetary disputes in which damages do not exceed a specific dollar value. G.L. c. 218, s. 21; McLaughlin v. Levenbaum, 248 Mass. 170, 175-176, (1924). In Fiscal Year 1996, small claims related filings comprised 44% of all civil filings in the Boston Municipal Court, the District Court, and the Housing Court Departments of the Trial Court, the courts with jurisdiction over small claims. Annual Report on the State of Massachusetts Court System, Fiscal Year 1996. For many citizens, the only direct contact with the courts may be their participation in a small claims case. For these individuals, their perception of the fairness and efficiency of the court system will be shaped by the quality of their experience in the small claims session. If small claims litigants find the process understandable and the court personnel helpful and courteous, and if they achieve a result without spending too much time or money, they are likely to think well of the courts and feel they have received justice even if they may not prevail. If, on the other hand, litigants find the small claims process difficult to comprehend and seemingly arbitrary and capricious, if they are not treated with dignity and courtesy, if they wait months for hearings and have to spend more time and effort than the case is worth to collect a judgment, they will think ill of the courts and buy into the most negative stereotypes about a broken judicial system.

Small claims court is intended to be "The People's Court," to borrow the title of the popular television show. It is the responsibility of the Trial Court to make this so. The small claims experience is different from other court proceedings because litigants, other than commercial litigants, generally appear without lawyers and therefore do not benefit from the mediating function attorneys perform in the judicial process. Trial Court personnel should recognize this fact and make every effort to assist small claims litigants as they try to navigate the unfamiliar territory of the clerk-magistrate’s office and the courtroom on their own.

These Standards are recommendations intended to implement the small claims statute, G.L. c. 218, ss. 21-25 (reproduced as Appendix A) and the Uniform Small Claims Rules (Trial Court Rule III, reproduced as Appendix B).