The Supreme Court approved, through A.M. No. 08-8-7-SC dated 9 September 2008, the proposed “The Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases” (see full text). Here’s the basic primer or discussion on the new procedure.
What is the scope and applicabilty of the Rule?
It covers cases at the MTC where the value of the claim does not exceed P100,000.00, exclusive of interest and costs. It applies in all actions which are: (a) purely civil in nature where the claim or relief prayed for by the plaintiff is solely for payment or reimbursement of sum of money, and (b) the civil aspect of criminal actions, either filed before the institution of the criminal action, or reserved upon the filing of the criminal action in court. These claims or demands may be:
- For money owed under any of the following contracts: Lease, Loan, Services, Sale, or Mortgage.
- For damages arising from: Fault or negligence, Quasi-contract, or Contract
- The enforcement of a barangay amicable settlement or an arbitration award involving a money claim covered by this Rule pursuant to Sec. 417 of Republic Act 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.
Am I required to pay filing fees?
Unless allowed to litigate as an indigent, you have to pay the regular filing fees. In any case, even when declared an indigent, you MUST pay the P1,000.00 fee for service of summons and processes in civil cases.
How to I apply as an indigent litigant?
The proper motion must be filed (click here for the requirements). If the motion is denied, you have 5 days within which to pay the docket fees, otherwise the case will be dismissed.
Are lawyers allowed to appear?
No attorney shall appear in behalf of or represent a party at the hearing, unless the attorney is the plaintiff or defendant.
What is the general flow of the procedure?
1. Commencement. A small claims action is commenced by filing with the court an accomplished and verified Statement of Claim in duplicate, accompanied by a Certification of Non-forum Shopping, and 2 duly certified photocopies of the actionable document/s subject of the claim, as well as the affidavits of witnesses and other evidence to support the claim. When requested, the Clerk of Court or other court personnel shall provide assistance regarding the availability of forms and other information about the coverage, requirements as well as procedure for small claims cases.
2. Examination by the court. The court may, from an examination of the allegations of the Statement of Claim and such evidence attached thereto, by itself, dismiss the case outright on any of the grounds apparent from the Claim for the dismissal of a civil action. If no ground for dismissal is found, the court shall issue: (a) Summons on the day of receipt of the Statement of Claim, directing the defendant to submit a verified Response; and (b) Notice to both parties, directing them to appear before it on a specific date and time for hearing, with a warning that no unjustified postponement shall be allowed.
3. Response. The defendant shall file with the court and serve on the plaintiff a duly accomplished and verified Response (affidavits of witnesses and other evidence in its support) within a non-extendible period of 10 days from receipt of summons. In case of faulure to file a Response, the court by itself shall render judgment as may be warranted by the facts alleged in the Statement of Claim limited to what is prayed for.
4. Hearing. The parties or their duly-appointed representatives shall appear at the designated date of hearing. Failure of the plaintiff to appear shall be cause for the dismissal of the claim without prejudice and the award of permissive counterclaims in favor of the defendant who is present. Failure of the defendant to appear has the same effect as the failure to file a Response.
5. Judicial Dispute Resolution (JDR). At the hearing, the judge shall conduct JDR through mediation, conciliation, early neutral evaluation, or any other mode of JDR. If JDR fails and the parties agree in writing that the hearing of the case shall be presided over by the judge who conducted the JDR, the hearing shall so proceed in an informal and expeditious manner and terminated within 1 day. Absent such agreement, the case shall, on the same day, be referred to the pairing judge for hearing and decision within 5 working days from referral.
6. Decision. After the hearing, the court shall render its decision on the same day. The decision shall be final and unappealable.
What is the date of effectivity of this Rule?
The Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases took effect on October 1, 2008 for the pilot courts designated to apply the procedure for small claims cases following its publication in two newspapers of general circulation.
Good day po,ask q po kung ganu kvalid ang promisory note even if n wala yung name ng babayaran n tao..last dec po kc nkabangga ang sskyan nmin ng uv express.ngaon po d nman msyado ang damage ng nabangga nmin. Ang operator ng uv express ayaw ipasok s insurance nmin o kya ipaassess kng mgkano ang damage ng sskyan nya. Ang gusto ng operator mgbyad km ng 100 k. Npilitan n lng km n gumawa ng promi note dahil msyado n km ngstay s presinto 4 hrs.ksama p nman nmin ang mga anak nmin. Ngayon po ngdemanda n po under s small claims ang operator dahil d nmin nbyaran ang hinihingi kc msyadong malaki. Pinaestimate nmin s talyer ns 7 thou lng po ang damage. Sana po mbigyan nyo po aq ng advice. Salamat po and godbless
Nagfile po ako ng kaso sa Small Claims Court sa Pasay noong Friday. Tumawag po ako sa Process Server kanina para tanungin kung kailan maise-serve ang summon sa hinabla ko. Pinapupunta po nya ulit sa offiice nya para magbigsy ng pamadahe papunta sa bahay o opisina ng aking inihahabla. Sa Las Piñas pa po ako manggagaling, at taga- Malibay, Pasay ang respondent. Ganyan po ba talaga ang kalakaran sa korte?
Hi po. Nais ko lng idulog sa inyo yung problema ko. Dec last year po nakakuha ako ng 15k sa isang kakilala. Ang usapan ay 3k ang tubo monthly hanggang d pa kaya ibalik ang kapital. Tapos po early this year. May ginarantoran ako na mga kakilala. Bale total po ay 15k din. So 30k na ung total sa knila. Mula dec 15 hanggang june15 ay hinulugan ko po ang tubo na 5k mo. Kaso po nhirapan na kong ituloy gawa ng buntis ako at nangangailangan pa ng operasyosn sa cyst. Nkiusap ako na pwedeng ung kapital nlng ang bayaran monthly hanggang mabalik ubg tubo dapat ng start na netong june 30 pero d ko naibigay dhil 3k lng ang ntira sa sinahod ko. Nakiusap ako mula pero ang savi ay ihahabla daw po ako at ipapahiya. D ko nmn po tinatakbuhan ung utang ko, ano po naganda gawin??? Salamat po.
Atty.
May mga cases na po ako sa small claims as the plaintiff and was decided by the judge in favor of me. May amicable settlements po na nangyari to pay me in three gives. Pero after giving the first hindi na tumupad yong may utang. Ano po ang gagawin ko para masingil ang kanyang balance.
Hi Julius, mabilis naman yung processing during your hearing?
How can I go after a person who owes me around 30k pesos in cash and does not pay the monthly credit card installment charge of 7400php? We do not have any written agreement but it was just in good faith the she will pay. I have been asking and collecting payment bec of the credit card finance charges due to unpaid monthly balance. Please help on how I can collect money from her. Thank you.
Hi Atty,
Thank you for your very informative article. I have a question regarding small claims. Nasa 500k ang credit sakin with several dated cheques na ng bounced back due to insufficient fund and sooner ay closed account na. Matagal po ang processing ng BP 22 so maari po ba na atleast 200K lang ang ilapit ko sa small claims court para lang maka pag bayad na yung may utang sakin? Ang signed contract namin is nasa 500k din pero ang mga cheques ay split into several amount.
Thank you very much and more power!
Good morning……. Ask q lng po kung anong dapat kung gawin kasi inisyuhan po ako ng bouncing check na 350,000.00. Hindi po ako ng file ng case kasi single mother po ako at busy sa maliit kong business at may apat na anak po ako. Ano po ang dapat kung gawin, kaibigan ko po siya at binibigyan ko siya ng chance baka kasi magbabayad siya. Check was been issued last July 2015 and its gonna be a year this month. Please help me what to do.
good day, what is the prescriptive period of the transactions to be filed in small claim court? is it the same if what involve is bounced checks or invoices only?
Atty:
Ako po ay may tindahan ng rtw, may mga dealer po kami. May mga dealer po kami na nagkakabalance sa amin. Ang iba po tumigil na sa pagdi deal, pero yun nga po may mga balances sila. ang tanong ko lang po halimbawa, 5 sila, paano po ang proseso ng ganun? pagsabay sabayin po ba sila? Isang tao lang po ba ang
pwedeng kasuhan? paano na po yung ibang ngkautang sa amin?
Sana po matulungan nyo kami. Mraming salamat po.
Hi po!
May nagbenta po sakin ng sasakyan kaso nung paparehistro ko na… may alarm na sya. nagsabi na ako sa kanila na isosoli ko yung sasakyan at isosoli nila yung pera ko worth 110k. Kaso, nung wala silang maipambayad, ang sabi nila na lalabanan na lang sila sa demanda ko. Question po is pasok po ba ang kaso ko sa small money claim e hindi po utang iyon? Meron po kaming agreement sa barangay na dapat isoli nila yung pera.
Salamat po!
Hello, Atty.
Thank you for this Article at maari kaming makapagtanong. Way back in 2005, nakahiram po ako sa isang lending company ng halagang 23,000. Ang naging problem po is nawalan ako ng trabaho at noong nagkaroon ako ng trabaho hindi ko din po naasikaso bayaran dahil po maliit lang ang kinikita ko. Problem now is nagsampa po sila ng small claims which is inabot na nga po ng 100k ang total amount na sinisingil nila sa akin. I begged for them po na mabayaran ko in an installment manner dahil hindi ko nman po sila kayang bayaran ng ganun ka laki ng biglaan, pero hindi po sila pumapayag. Ano po kaya ang pwede kong gawin dito? Thank you po.
Can a loan qualify for small claims if it is below 6,000 PHP? Thanks!
atty gusto ko lang po itanong kung paano po kung ang nagfile sa ng small claim ay hindi po dumaan sa barangay? pwede ko po ba ipadismis un? at paano po kung ang pinadala nilang demand letter ay minor po ang nakatangap at ngpirma? hindi po nakarating sa amin ang demand letter na nireceive ng minor sa adres namin? willing naman po magbayad pero dipo ba dapat dumaan muna sa barangay bago nagfile ng small claim? pls reply po
igood evening po attorney may tanong po sana ko regarding po sa nahiraman ko bago ako umalis nung mga unang buwan po kasi nakakahulog naman po ako kaso nung huli mejo pumalya po kasi ngkaproblema po ako sa ibang bansa kaya ngakagipit gipit din po kami..ngaun po sabi nya naifile nya na daw po last week ang small claims skin sa court sa monday daw po ang final. pero nakiusap po ako sa kanya sa sa next month magstart napo ako magbayad sa kanya. posible nya pa po bang maiatras ang pagfile ng klaso sa small claims court?Pede rin po ba un kahit ndi dumaan sa baranggay.Salamat po.sana po mapaliwanagan nyo po ako.
A fake geodetic engineer and I had a compromise agreement before the MTC wherein the former shall refund or pay me Php140,000.00, I paid him for the subdivision survey of our land, this coming December 1, 2016. Actually I paid him Php170,000.00 but he pleaded for a reduction to which I agreed. What action shall I take if he fails to pay me the Php140,000.00 on December 1, 2016? Thanks for the advice.
Kasali po ba sa small claims ang utang sa Avon? May ipinadala pong letter sa akin ang Avon pero hindi ko nabasa kasi hindi naiwala ko po. This happened like 4-5 years ago.