Florida > Local County > Lake > Small Claims
Small Claims Package - Florida
| Small Claims Package Form. This is a Florida form and can be used in Small Claims Lake Local County . |
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INSTRUCTIONS FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT CASES The small claims process is used for resolving civil disputes that involve monies in the amount of $5,000 or less, excluding court costs, interest and/or attorney's fees, if applicable. To file in Lake County, the claim must have arisen here, or the defendant must reside here. Before filing your claim, you should make sure you have the proper name(s) and address(s) of the party(s) you want to sue. You should attempt to get the full name and address of an individual; for a business you will need to know the proper legal name for the business, as well as the proper owners and their addresses. If you wish to sue a corporation you need to identify the name and address of a corporate representative who is available to receive service of lawsuit papers. This information can be obtained from www.sunbiz.org. Once you are prepared to file your claim, you should complete the Statement of Claim form, attaching invoices or other evidence of the claim. Submit the original Statement of Claim with attachments and one (1) copy of the Statement of Claim with attachments for each defendant. Read, complete, and submit the Statement of Responsibility (no copies are required). You will have to pay a filing fee at the time you file your claim (checks for filing fees should be made payable to Neil Kelly, Clerk of Circuit Court). The fee is based upon the amount of your claim. Effective July 1, 2008, the filing fees are as follows: Amount of Claim $ .01 - $ 99.99 $ 100.00 - $ 500.00 $ 500.01 - $2,500.00 $2,500.01 - $5,000.00 PLUS an additional Summons Fee Filing Fee Document $ 55.00 + Service * $ 80.00 + Service * $175.00 + Service * $300.00 + Service * $ 10.00 per each Summons Issued *There are several methods in which to have the defendants served with a summons to appear in court. A few of the methods are listed below; other methods of service can be researched in the Florida Rules of Court in the Law Library. 1. 2. Certified mail to defendants residing in the State of Florida only for a fee of $5.75 per defendant. If you choose this method of service, add the certified mail fee to the filing fee made payable to Neil Kelly, Clerk of Circuit Court. For Lake County addresses only The Lake County Sheriff's Office for a fee of $40.00 per defendant. The Lake County Sheriff's Office will only accept forms of payment by Business checks, Money Order, Certified check, or Cash. No personal checks accepted. An out-of-County Sheriff's Office for addresses not in Lake County. You will need to contact the out-of-county sheriff's office to inquire about their service fee and address. Submit the fee for the out-of-county sheriff in a separate payment made payable to that out-of-county sheriff along with a pre-addressed stamped envelope for that sheriff. Some Sheriffs' offices do not accept personal checks. It is your responsibility to check. A private process server may be located in the telephone directory under process servers. The process server will advise you of the service fee and procedures. 3. 4. If the party is not served, you will be notified. You may then request the hearing be rescheduled and service attempted again. It would be your responsibility to obtain any additional information needed to insure service and to pay any additional fees required for the subsequent service. In the event a judgment is rendered in your favor, you will receive a copy of said judgment by mail. You should be aware that our office cannot guarantee you will be able to collect on the judgment. There are some steps which you can take in an effort to collect on the judgment, including having a certified copy of the judgment recorded. This will serve as a lien against property owned by the defendant in each county in which a certified copy is recorded. You may also obtain a Writ of Execution which serves as an Order for the Sheriff to levy on property of the defendant. When any judgment has been satisfied, you will need to supply the defendant with an original Satisfaction of Judgment within thirty (30) days of payment to cancel the Judgment of Record. For any additional information or assistance, please contact the Clerk of the Circuit Court, County Civil Division at (352) 742-4172. You may wish to purchase a handbook compiled by the judges of the County Court of Lake County which provides some very helpful information for small claims court cases and possible methods of collection. This handbook can be purchased for $2.25 from the Lake County Judicial Center Central Intake, located at 550 West Main Street, Tavares, Florida 32778 or downloaded from the website www.lakecountyclerk.org. NEIL KELLY Clerk of the Circuit Court 550 West Main Street P. O. Box 7800 Tavares, Florida 32778-7800 P:\CountyCivil\Small Claims\INSTRUCTIONS FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT CASES.doc 7/25/2012 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com COUNTY COURT LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA Case No.______________________ ______________________________________ Name(s) ______________________________________ Address(es) Physical ______________________________________ Address(es) Mailing ______________________________________ Plaintiff(s) vs _____________________________________ Name(s) ______________________________________ Address(es) Physical ______________________________________ Address(es) Mailing ______________________________________ Defendant(s) STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY (Civil Case Under $5,000.00) Before filing this case I have considered the following matters and acknowledge that: 1. This case is being filed in the County Court under the Florida Small Claims Rules of Court; that it is considered a layman's court; that I, and the defendant, may be represented by an attorney of our individual choice but neither is required to do so, and that the conduct of this case will be in accordance with the rules of procedure and laws of Florida which apply to this case. The naming of proper parties is an important element of the case and the responsibility for naming the proper plaintiff(s) and defendant(s) in this case is mine. I am responsible for the furnishing of a correct address or location at which the defendant(s) can be served or given notice of this suit. I assume responsibility as to my right to file this case for myself or for the named plaintiff(s). I do not expect the Clerk who receives and files this claim to give me legal advice as to how to prosecute this case and acknowledge that the Clerk is not acting as my at
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