We are indeed pleased that you have expressed an interest in using the award winning electronic filing program that the Sacramento Superior Court has developed for small claims cases. This instruction booklet has been written to assist you in using this program.

Some general information about the program is provided for you. In an effort to make these instructions easy to use, we have broken the material down so that each page of this booklet addresses only one "page" that you will see as you use the program.

At this time, you may only file a Claim of Plaintiff or a Claim of Defendant on line. All other filings must be done in person or by mail. Only claims that would be filed at a court that can be selected from the list of participating courts within this Statewide Small Claims E-Filing program can be filed on-line. If you wish to file a claim with a court that is not participating in this Statewide Small Claims E-Filing program, you must also do this in person or by mail. It is the responsibility of each party to determine the correct venue (the proper court in which to file your claim).

You will need to first determine whether you are filing a Claim of Plaintiff or a Claim of Defendant. If you wish to sue someone and you have not been sued by that person or entity about the same event, you should use the instructions to file a "Plaintiff’s Claim and Order to Defendant".  Choose  "Claim of Defendant" ONLY if you have been sued and you wish to file a claim against the party who has sued you.

The following are some of the resources available to assist you as you use this system:

• The navigation buttons on the left side of the opening page of the e-filing program provide you with a variety of types of legal and procedural assistance. Links to the Sacramento Small Claims Legal Advisory Clinic site and the Department of Consumer Affairs site are also available on each individual page of the program.

• When you reach the page on which you will be entering information about the person or entity you are suing, you will see that among the options in the drop-down box for "Party Type" you may select "Association, Corporation, Corporation Doing Business As, or Partnership." If you choose any of these types, a link to the Secretary of State’s Office will display. From that site, you can obtain information you will need to complete your claim, such as the name of the agent for service of process.