Some things you need to know about Small Claims Court.

By C. Steven Moskos

DISCLAIMER: The information below is designed to educate and inform you about one part of our judicial system. It is not designed to be legal advice, nor should receipt of this document in any way be construed as a legal opinion on the validity of a your claim. If you wish to obtain a legal opinion regarding the facts of your case, you should contact and retain an attorney to issue such an opinion.

ADDRESS: The addresses for the Small Claims Court in Charleston County are as follows:

Charleston County

Charleston
Small Claims Court
995 Morrison Drive
Charleston, SC 29403-0941
Phone: 843-724-6720

North Charleston
Small Claims Court
Judge James Turner
4045 Bridgeview Drive
North Charleston, SC 29405
Phone: 843-202-6650

Dorchester County

Linda Cobbs - Magistrate's Court
212 Deming Way
Box 10 (29483)
Summerville, SC 29483
Phone: 843-832-0370

Berkeley County

Northern Berkeley
Small Claims Court
103 Gulledge Street
Moncks Corner, SC 29461
Phone: 843-723-3800 x: 4264

Southern Berkeley County
Small Claims Court
Melissa Creech
538 Redbank Road
Goose Creek, SC 29445
Phone: 843-553-7080

Colleton County

(Ask for Common Pleas if calling)
Small Claims Court
101 Hampton Street
Walterboro, SC 29488
Phone: 843-549-5791

Beaufort County

Northern Beaufort
100 Ribaut Road
Beaufort, SC 29902
Phone: 843-470-5201

JURISDICTION: Jurisdiction simply means the authority of a court to hear a matter. Beginning January 1, 2001, you may bring a suit in Small Claims Court against a person and request money damages in an amount up to $7,500.00. Any suit brought requesting more than $7,500.00 will have to be brought in the Court of Common Pleas. Additionally, Small Claims Court is a court of law. This means that it only deals with money damages. It is not a court of equity. Equity, in this case, simply means fairness. In other words, you can not go to the Small Claims Court and obtain an injunction, or have the court simply determine the meaning of terms of a contract. These types of actions would have to be brought in the Court of Common Pleas. Small Claims Court also does not handle criminal matters or family court issues.

PARTIES: The person who brings a law suit is the plaintiff. The person being sued is the defendant. The law suit is started when the plaintiff files paperwork with the court telling the court the problem he wants resolved. This paperwork is called the Complaint. The complaint is filed and then given to a constable who will then take it to the defendant. When the constable hands the complaint to the defendant or someone at his home who is over 18 and of reasonable discretion, this is called service of process. The defendant then prepares his response to the complaint which is called the Answer. He sets forth his version of the facts and any defenses he may have. The defendant may also sue the plaintiff. This is called a Counterclaim. The plaintiff must then file his Reply to the defendant's allegations. The defendant may also feel that another person not already in the action is at fault. He can sue that other person by filing a Third Party Complaint when he files his answer to the plaintiff's complaint. The constable will then serve the defendant's answer and third party complaint on the additional party, who will then have to file an Answer.

TYPE OF TRIAL: You have a choice between two types of trial. One is a jury trial in which you would present your case to six jurors made up of the members of the county. The second type of trial is called a bench trial. In this type of case, you present your evidence to the judge and he or she decides the case.

PREPARATION FOR TRIAL: Before going to trial, you must prepare your case. You must have all of you paperwork and all of you witnesses ready to go. If you need to have a witness at trial or you need to have someone bring documents to the court, you may consider having a subpoena issued for them. You should notify the court at least two weeks in advance of the trial as to who or what you want subpoenaed. Additionally, you will have to pay the court five dollars at the time you request the subpoena.

DOCUMENTS: Depending on the type of case, documents may be very important. Any case involving a contract, receipts, or other documents will benefit greatly from having these documents in the court room. If you do not have these documents, the court may not believe your testimony, or the other side may provide copies of their documents which may not be the same as the documents that you received. If the other side shows up with documents that you do not have, the judge is more likely to believe the other side than you.

WITNESSES: Any witnesses you need to testify must be present at the court room. The trier of fact, whether the judge or a jury, is not allowed to hear hearsay testimony unless it falls into one of 18 exceptions. It is difficult to fit into one of these exceptions and you should not rely on them to present your case. Instead, you should have the witness present. The underlying reason for not allowing hearsay testimony is that a party should be allowed to cross-examine a witness who is presenting evidence against him. If you were to be able to summarize his testimony, the other side would not be able to cross- examine the person who supposedly made the damaging comments. The hearsay rule was designed to prevent lying and innocent misrepresentations regarding the facts of a case.

JUDGMENT: At the conclusion of the case, the trier of fact will decide the case. If you are the plaintiff and you win, the court will issue a judgment awarding you money. The judgment will include the amount of your damages and your costs in bringing the suit. Costs include the filing fee and any subpoena fees incurred. Costs do not include attorney's fees. A transcript of judgment will be sent to you within three or four days from the date of the trial. You may immediately file this with the Clerk of Court for the County in which you brought the action. The filing fee is $5.00. The Clerk of Court for the county may or may not be in the same building at the Small Claims Court. Be sure to inquire as to where the Clerk's office is before you send in your judgment. The defendant will then have thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the judgment to file an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas. If an appeal is not taken, the judgment is final and you may begin collecting the money if the Defendant fails to voluntarily pay you. If the Plaintiff losses, he has thirty (30) days in which to file an appeal.

If the judgment was rendered against the Defendant in a different county than where the property is located, you will have to file a transfer of judgment form in the county in which the property is located. This may be done free of charge. You may obtain a form for this process from the Clerk of Court's office.

If you are the Defendant, and you win, the Judgment will be sent to both parties indicating that the court found in favor of the Defendant. No paperwork will be filed with the Clerk of Court.

If a judgment against you is filed with the Clerk of Court's office, it may be reflected on your credit report as many credit bureaus review the judgment roles to gather information about people. Obviously, having a judgment against you would be a serious negative reference.

APPEAL: The person appealing the Small Claims Court's decision is responsible for making sure that the Small Claims Court Judge prepares the record to be reviewed by the Court of Common Pleas. Both parties will be responsible for staying in touch with the Clerk of Court's office so that they can be notified as to when to appear before a Circuit Court Judge.

An appeal from Small Claims Court is not an opportunity for a new trial in front of another judge. The only way the Lower Court's decision will be over-turned is if you can show a misapplication of the current law to the facts of your case. Failure to show an error of law will cause the Circuit Court Judge to rule against you. Simply saying that the judge or the jury came to the wrong conclusion will not be sufficient to win on appeal.

COLLECTION OF JUDGMENT: After the thirty (30) day appeal period, or after a final decision by the Circuit Court regarding the Defendant's appeal, the Plaintiff may begin collection of the Judgment. The first step is to determine if the Defendant has any property in his/her name. You may go the RMC office located in the County Office building to determine if the Defendant has a home or any land in his/her name. You can also check the tax records to see if a person owns a car, motor home, trailer, boat, or boat engine that can be attached. If you can find any property, you must take the identifying information such as the make, model and year of the car as well as any serial numbers and provide them to the sheriff of the County in which the Defendant has property.

The sheriff will then attach the property. If it is land, the sheriff may post a notice on the property that the property is to be put up for sale. If the property is movable, the sheriff may impound it until a sale of the property may be held. The sheriff is required to advertise the property once a week for three weeks in the newspaper. After that the property will be up for sale to the highest bidder. Once the property is sold, the sheriff deducts his costs for advertising and storing the property. Any liens on the property are then paid. You then receive your money up to the amount of the judgment. The defendant then receives any money which may be left over. If the property is not sufficient to satisfy your judgment, additional property may be attached and sold until the judgment is paid.

ATTORNEY'S FEES: In South Carolina, as across the country, the only time a party may receive attorney's fees is when he is specifically allowed attorney's fees pursuant to a written contract, or if a statute allows for the recovery of attorney's fees. The American Judicial System still maintains the premise that an individual may represent himself in Court. If he chooses to hire a attorney, he must pay for the attorney himself. That is why you will see in many financial documents from banks or other lending institutions the requirement that if a person does not make his/her payments on time, the financial institution will be entitled to all costs of collection, including a reasonable attorney's fee. Thus, a claim such as an automobile accident, trespass, or damage to property would not allow you to recover for attorney's fees. Therefore, whenever possible, you should always try to have a contractual provision which allows you to collect attorney's fees if the other party does not pay you as agreed.

C. Steven Moskos is an attorney in North Charleston whose practice focuses on consumer rights, lemon law, auto fraud, and personal injury cases. He has been practicing law for more than 14 years. Types of cases he has handled in the past include Hurricane Hugo cases, including the first use of computer generated animations in the Federal Courts in South Carolina, automobile accident cases, lemon law and defective car cases, suing insurance companies for failing to pay benefits, contract cases, and collection cases. If you have any legal problem, call us for help or a referral.

C. Steven Moskos 2000