How to Sue Someone in Small Claims Court in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania does not have a court named “small claims court.” Smaller money disputes are handled as civil actions before a Magisterial District Judge, the first level of the state’s court system. This article explains how to start that case: confirming the dispute fits, finding the right magisterial district, completing the civil complaint, paying the fee, and getting the defendant served. The broader framework, what these courts are and the vocabulary that runs through every related procedure, is covered in how Pennsylvania small claims courts work.

Confirm the dispute fits before a magisterial district judge

Magisterial District Courts hear civil claims for money up to a statutory cap. A claim above the cap, or a request for something other than money, belongs in a different court.

As of 2026, 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 1515 gives magisterial district judges jurisdiction over civil claims “wherein the sum demanded does not exceed $12,000, exclusive of interest and costs.” The cap covers the usual money disputes a person brings without a lawyer: unpaid debts and contracts (assumpsit), and property damage or other harm (trespass). Interest and court costs sit outside the $12,000 figure, so a claim can grow past that number once those are added.

A claim worth more than $12,000 is not automatically shut out. The same statute lets a plaintiff “waive a portion of his claim of more than $12,000 so as to bring the matter within the monetary jurisdiction of a magisterial district judge.” Waiving the excess is permanent, the waived amount cannot be recovered later, in this case or any other.

Some disputes do not belong before a magisterial district judge regardless of amount. Claims against a Commonwealth party, title to real estate, and requests for an injunction fall outside this jurisdiction. Landlord-tenant cases follow a separate track within the same court and use different forms.

Find the right magisterial district

Pennsylvania is divided into magisterial districts, each presided over by one magisterial district judge. The case is filed in the district with the proper connection to the dispute, generally where the defendant lives or can be served, or where the events giving rise to the claim happened.

Filing in the wrong district gives the defendant a basis to object and can send the case back to square one, with the filing fee and time already spent unrecovered. Each county’s court of common pleas oversees the magisterial districts within it, and district boundaries follow specific municipalities and wards rather than ZIP codes.

The Unified Judicial System publishes a statewide directory of magisterial district judges that identifies the correct district for an address. For background on where these courts sit in the state structure, the minor courts overview describes the magisterial district level as “the first level of Pennsylvania’s Unified Judicial System.”

Complete the civil complaint

The case starts with a civil complaint filed on an official form. The plaintiff is the person or business bringing the claim; the defendant is the one being sued.

Under Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. Rule 304, “the complaint shall be made in writing on a form prescribed by the State Court Administrator” and must set forth the names and addresses of the parties, the amount claimed, and “a brief and concise statement of the facts upon which the claim is based.” The form is the AOPC civil complaint used in every magisterial district; the court office provides it, and the Unified Judicial System also posts civil court forms online.

1. Name the parties in their legal names

   List the full legal name and address of every plaintiff and defendant. An individual sues in their own name. A business sues in the legal name of its owner, partnership, or corporation. A wrong or incomplete defendant name is a common reason a judgment later becomes hard to collect, because the name on the judgment must match the name on the defendant’s bank account, wages, or property.

2. State the amount and the facts

   Enter the exact amount demanded, which must be $12,000 or less, and describe the claim in plain, specific terms, dates, the agreement or event, and how the figure was calculated. “$4,200 for a roof repair invoiced March 3, 2026 and never paid” is the level of detail the form asks for, not “money owed.”

3. File the complaint and pay the fee

   File the completed complaint at the office of the magisterial district judge for the correct district. The clerk assigns a docket number and a hearing date. Filing fees are set by statute and county and depend on the amount of the claim and the number of defendants; the office posts the current fee schedule.

A plaintiff who cannot afford the fee can ask the court to proceed without prepaying costs by filing a petition to proceed in forma pauperis, which the court reviews based on income and household circumstances. The complaint form, the venue rules for choosing a district, and the Philadelphia exception are walked through in detail in filing a Pennsylvania small claims case in magisterial district court.

Get the defendant served

A defendant who has not been properly served cannot be ordered to attend the hearing, and a judgment entered without valid service is open to challenge. In magisterial district court, the plaintiff does not arrange service personally, the court does.

Under Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. Rule 307, the magisterial district judge delivers a copy of the complaint “for service to the sheriff of, or any certified constable in, the county,” and service “shall be made at least ten days before the hearing.” Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. Rule 308 sets out how an individual defendant is served, most directly “by handing a copy to the defendant,” with alternatives for serving an adult at the defendant’s residence or place of business.

If the sheriff or constable cannot complete service, the court notifies the plaintiff, and the case cannot move forward until a defendant is served. Tracking the service result with the court office before the hearing date avoids arriving for a hearing that cannot go ahead.

What happens at and after the hearing

The hearing is informal compared with a common pleas trial. Both sides appear before the magisterial district judge, present documents and witnesses, and answer questions. Parties may bring an attorney but are not required to; many appear on their own.

If the defendant does not appear and service was valid, the judge can enter a default judgment for the plaintiff after the plaintiff briefly proves the claim and the amount of damages. A default judgment carries the same weight as a contested one for purposes of appeal and collection; the defendant’s remedy is to appeal within 30 days under Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. Rule 1002 or, after that, to ask the Court of Common Pleas to open the judgment. If the plaintiff does not appear, the case can be dismissed. The judge usually decides the matter and enters a judgment, and the court mails written notice of the judgment to both sides.

Winning a judgment is not the same as being paid. A judgment that the defendant does not pay voluntarily is enforced through separate collection steps, covered in collecting a Pennsylvania small claims judgment. Those steps include an order of execution that directs a sheriff or constable to seize and sell a debtor’s non-exempt personal property to satisfy the judgment.

Appealing the result

Either side can appeal an adverse judgment to the county Court of Common Pleas. The appeal is a fresh start: the common pleas case proceeds as if the magisterial district hearing had not happened, rather than a review of the judge’s reasoning.

Under Pa.R.C.P.M.D.J. Rule 1002, a party aggrieved by a money judgment “may appeal the judgment within 30 days after the date of the entry of the judgment by filing with the prothonotary of the court of common pleas a notice of appeal.” Those 30 days run in calendar days from the date the magisterial district judge enters the judgment on the docket, not from when the written notice arrives in the mail. The 30-day window and the steps that follow are covered in detail in the Pennsylvania small claims appeal process.