The clerk-magistrate’s office shall accept all claims for filing. The plaintiff should be informed if a claim exceeds the statutory maximum or if venue is improper. Filing by mail should be encouraged.
Commentary
Any person of legal age may file a claim in his or her own name as plaintiff. An attorney may file a claim for a client. In the spirit of small claims practice, one of a number of partners or joint plaintiffs acting for all should be permitted to file a claim for all, and an officer, manager, or local manager of a corporation acting for the corporation should be permitted to file a claim in the corporation's behalf. A person who represents that he or she is authorized to do so should be permitted to file a claim on behalf of another, but the identity of any surrogate should be noted on the Statement of Small Claim. See Standard 6:09.
Court personnel should appreciate that trips to the courthouse may be inconvenient, time-consuming, and costly for litigants. Telephone callers inquiring about the initiation of a claim should be informed that a claim may be filed by mail. Uniform Small Claims Rule 2. The court should only return mailed-in forms to the sender if necessary information is missing or if there is a serious deficiency in the Statement of Small Claim, i.e. not for minor drafting faults.
Claims in excess of the statutory limit may be accepted, but the plaintiff should be informed that bringing the matter as a small claim will waive any claim to such excess. A surrogate should not be permitted to waive another’s excess claim. There is no statutory limit in automobile property damage tort claims brought under the procedure. For cases under the consumer protection statute, G.L. c. 93A, or the security deposit statute, G.L. c. 186, s.15B, only the base amount of the claim must be within the statutory limit. Hampshire Village v. District Court, 381 Mass. 148 (1980).
No small claim should be rejected for what the clerk-magistrate’s office perceives as venue/jurisdictional problems. In the District Court and the Boston Municipal Court, venue is proper in the court where the plaintiff or defendant lives or has his or her usual place of business or employment. (Previously, venue was proper only where the defendant lived or had his or her usual place of business or employment.) Where a claim is against a residential landlord for a matter arising out of a tenancy, venue also exists where the property is located. G.L. c. 218, s. 21. The venue for the Housing Court is limited to where the property that is the subject of the small claim is located. G.L. c. 185C, s.3. If a defendant will not waive a defect in venue, G.L. c. 218, s. 21 permits a court to cure improper venue by transferring a small claim to the appropriate court, but obviously it is preferable to have proper venue initially. Accordingly, unless there is reason to believe the defendant will waive venue or if immediate filing is necessary to toll the statute of limitations, the clerk-magistrate’s office should normally refer a plaintiff who has the wrong venue to the proper court and suggest that the claim be filed there.
If an inmate of a correctional facility seeks to file a claim, the Statement of Small Claim should be accepted, thereby tolling the statute of limitations. The prisoner should be informed that the matter will be heard when he or she notifies the court of his or her release. The defendant should be served and notified of the court’s action. In appropriate circumstances, however, the court may permit the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to G.L. c. 248, s. 25.
A claim against multiple defendants made out on separate Statement of Small Claim forms should be accepted for filing as a single claim even if that court’s usual practice is to use a single form.
Small claims clerical personnel should prepare a docket form and index card for each small claim filed.