Massachusetts Small Claims Limit and How to File a Case

Massachusetts small claims court lets you sue for up to $7,000 through an informal process available in every district court and the Boston Municipal Court. Filing fees start at $40, hearings are handled by a clerk-magistrate rather than a judge, and you don’t need a lawyer. The trade-off: you can only ask for money, and if you’re the plaintiff and lose, you can’t appeal.¹

What You Can Sue For

The dollar cap is $7,000 on the amount you claim when you file. Interest is calculated separately, so the final judgment can be higher.² Two situations push past the cap:

Motor vehicle property damage claims have no dollar limit at all. If a car damaged your property, you can file in small claims regardless of the amount.³
Consumer protection claims under Chapter 93A can exceed $7,000 in the final award if your actual damages are $7,000 or less but you’re entitled to double or triple damages.³

Some cases don’t belong in small claims at all. You cannot bring a defamation claim, ask the court to force someone to perform a contract, or seek any non-monetary relief such as an injunction.¹ Claims based on negligence by a public employee generally have to go through the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act in Superior Court instead.⁴

Where to File

You can file in the judicial district where you live or work, or where the defendant lives, works, or has a usual place of business.² Suing a landlord over a residential rental? You can also file in the district where the property sits.

Filing in the wrong court isn’t fatal. The court can hear the case anyway if the defendant doesn’t object, or transfer it to the right district on a party’s motion.² Still, picking the right court up front avoids weeks of delay.

How to File a Case

The Statement of Claim

You start by filling out a Statement of Claim and Notice form at the clerk-magistrate’s office. The form asks for a plain-language description of the dispute, the exact dollar amount you want, and any statutory damages or attorney’s fees you’re claiming. The rules specifically call for “concise, untechnical language,” and the clerk is required to help you if you need it.⁵ You can file in person or by mail. Once the clerk processes the form, you’ll get a copy showing your trial date and time.

Filing Fees

The fee scales with what you’re asking for:

If you win, the fee gets added to the defendant’s bill. If you can’t afford it, ask the clerk-magistrate to waive the fee under the Indigent Court Costs Law.⁷

Serving the Defendant

You don’t have to arrange service yourself. The clerk sends the defendant a copy of your Statement of Claim by first class mail to the address you provided, and that mailing counts as valid service unless it comes back undelivered.⁸ If it comes back, the clerk will tell you what other service methods you need to use. For defendants outside Massachusetts, service follows the long-arm statute procedures, which the clerk can walk you through.

The 30-Day Demand Letter for 93A Claims

If your case involves unfair or deceptive business practices under Chapter 93A, you have to send the business a written demand letter at least 30 days before you file. The letter must describe the unfair practice, the harm you suffered, and the specific relief you want. The business then has 30 days to make a reasonable settlement offer. Skip this step and you lose the ability to recover multiple damages and attorney’s fees under 93A.⁹ You don’t need to send it if the business has no location or assets in Massachusetts, or if you’re raising 93A as a counterclaim after being sued.

If You’ve Been Sued

If you’re the defendant and think the plaintiff actually owes you money, you can file a counterclaim. There’s no special form required. You can include the counterclaim in a signed letter to the court, write a separate letter, or use the Small Claims Counterclaim form from the clerk’s office. Send a copy to the plaintiff.¹⁰

Timing matters. Mail the counterclaim to the plaintiff at least 10 days before trial and both claims get heard together as one case.⁸ Miss the deadline and the magistrate may still hear it, but there’s no guarantee.

Either side can also ask to transfer the case to the regular civil docket before trial, and the court can do this on its own. Transfer moves the case to the full Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure, with formal pleadings and discovery.¹¹ There’s no additional fee for the transfer. This happens most often when a case turns out to be more legally complex than small claims can handle, such as a counterclaim that needs formal discovery to sort out.

Mediation Before Trial

Mediation is voluntary. It only happens if at least one party requests it and everyone agrees. If the plaintiff requests mediation at filing, the summons will note that it’s available. A mediated agreement is enforceable exactly like a judgment entered after trial. If the other side doesn’t follow through, you can use the same collection tools (execution, payment hearings) that apply to any small claims judgment.¹² Mediation is worth considering because it lets both sides craft a solution the court couldn’t order on its own, like a payment plan or a partial refund combined with returned goods.

Preparing for the Hearing

The hearing is informal, but the magistrate still decides based on evidence. Bring everything that supports your version of events: contracts, invoices, receipts, photographs, repair estimates, and written communications. Organized documentation makes your story easier to follow. Witnesses matter when the case comes down to your word against theirs. If a witness won’t come voluntarily, ask the clerk-magistrate’s office to issue a witness summons.¹³

Text messages, emails, and social media posts are admissible, but you have to authenticate them. That means showing the item is genuinely what you say it is, usually through a witness with personal knowledge of the conversation or someone familiar with the other party’s writing style. Print your digital evidence whenever possible. Screenshots of texts should include the sender’s name, date, and time. Everything should be legible, and if color matters, use color copies. A magistrate cannot refuse to look at evidence just because it’s on your phone, but printed copies get marked as exhibits for the record.¹⁴

What Happens at the Hearing

Arrive at the courthouse at least an hour before your scheduled time. If the case wasn’t resolved through mediation, a clerk-magistrate hears it. Both parties and any witnesses are sworn in. The plaintiff presents first, speaking directly to the magistrate. The defendant then tells their side. Each party can question the other side and their witnesses.¹ The magistrate will often ask questions to clarify details. After hearing both sides, the magistrate issues a decision.

When a defendant fails to appear and the court’s notice wasn’t returned undelivered, the court will normally enter a default judgment for the plaintiff.¹⁵ The plaintiff still needs to be there so the magistrate can confirm the damages and the basis for the claim. If you filed the claim and don’t appear on the trial date, your case gets dismissed. If you have a scheduling conflict, ask for a continuance well in advance.

Appeals Are One-Sided

Only the defendant can appeal a small claims judgment. If you sued someone and lost, you cannot appeal. The magistrate’s decision is final for you. The rule works this way because the plaintiff chose the streamlined small claims process instead of the regular civil docket.¹⁶

A defendant who wants to appeal must file a written Notice of Appeal within 10 days of receiving the judgment. The appeal has to include a notice specifying whether the defendant wants a bench trial or a jury of six, an affidavit explaining the questions of law and fact and stating the appeal is made in good faith, a $25 entry fee (waivable if indigent), and a $100 appeal bond (also waivable if the defendant lacks funds and the appeal isn’t frivolous).¹⁷ An appeal gets you a completely new trial, not a review of the magistrate’s reasoning. Both sides present the case fresh. If you’re the plaintiff, be ready to prove everything all over again.

Collecting Your Judgment

Winning a judgment and actually getting paid are two different things. The court doesn’t collect for you. After judgment, the defendant has 15 court days to pay before you can take enforcement action.¹⁸

Execution

If the defendant doesn’t pay voluntarily, request an execution from the court. The court issues it automatically on request, with no hearing needed.¹⁸ The execution is the document that authorizes a sheriff or constable to collect from the defendant’s assets. It’s also required for some administrative steps, such as getting the Registry of Motor Vehicles to suspend a defendant’s license over an unpaid motor vehicle property damage judgment.

Payment Hearings

When a defendant ignores the judgment, you can request a payment hearing. This brings the defendant back to court to disclose income, assets, and expenses under oath. The magistrate can then order a payment plan based on the defendant’s finances. If the defendant fails to appear after proper notice, the court can issue a capias, essentially an arrest warrant, to compel attendance.¹⁹ Before the capias issues, the court must first send a further notice warning that failure to appear could result in one.

Garnishment

To garnish wages, you’ll need to file a separate supplementary process action to get a garnishment order. Massachusetts limits wage garnishment to the lesser of 15% of the debtor’s gross wages, or the debtor’s disposable income minus 50 times the greater of the federal or Massachusetts hourly minimum wage per week. These limits don’t apply to child support or spousal support obligations. Bank accounts have protections too: the first $2,500 in an account is exempt from garnishment, and two months of directly deposited federal benefits like Social Security are automatically protected.

Do You Need a Lawyer

Lawyers are allowed, but most people represent themselves. The whole system is designed for that. Procedures are informal, the clerk helps with paperwork, and the rules of evidence are relaxed. Hiring a lawyer for a $3,000 dispute often doesn’t make financial sense, though it may be worth considering if the other side has one or the legal issues are unusually complex.

One practical exception: if you’re filing under Chapter 93A and win, the court can award attorney’s fees on top of your damages. In that situation, hiring a lawyer might not cost you anything out of pocket if you prevail.

1
Mass.gov. Small Claims Court
2
General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Part III, Title I, Chapter 218, Section 21
3
Mass.gov. Massachusetts Law About Small Claims and Bringing a Claim to Court
4
Mass.gov. Find Out if You’re Eligible to File a Small Claim
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Mass.gov. Uniform Small Claims Rule 2 – Filing a Statement of Claim
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Mass.gov. File a Small Claim in the Boston Municipal Court, District Court, or Housing Court
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Mass.gov. Small Claims Standards 3:03 Filing Fees
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Mass.gov. Uniform Small Claims Rule 3 – Notice to Defendant, Answer to Claim
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Mass.gov. 30 Day Demand Letter
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Mass.gov. Small Claims for Defendants
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Mass.gov. Uniform Small Claims Rule 4 – Transfer
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Mass.gov. Uniform Magistrate Rule 4 – Mediation of Small Claims Actions
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Mass.gov. Learn What to Expect at a Small Claims Trial
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Mass.gov. Section 1119 – Digital Evidence
15
Mass.gov. Small Claims Standards 4:04 If Notice Refused or Not Served
16
Mass.gov. Uniform Small Claims Rule 10 – Appeal
17
Mass.gov. Small Claims Standards 8:00 Appealing from the Judgment
18
Mass.gov. Small Claims Standards 9:05 Execution
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Mass.gov. Uniform Small Claims Rule 7B – Conducting the Payment Hearing