An important change to Small Claims Court in New York City has recently been very quietly enacted, which is the increase of the jurisdictional limit to the amount of a Small Claims lawsuit from $5,000.00 to $10,000.00.
This is a change that has been discussed for a long time but has finally come to fruition. In my view, it creates a new relevance to Small Claims Court as many claims might exceed $5,000.00 but are still not significant enough to warrant hiring an attorney.
Many of these claims will include landlord-tenant issues, such as claims for return of security deposit, claims for rent overcharge, claims for refund of brokers’ fees etc.
This change in the law will undoubtedly cause more filings in Small Claims court, cause more of a work load for the Judges and Arbitrators, and likely make the amount of time it takes to resolve a small claims case increase to a longer period of time than previously required.
If anyone has questions about Small Claims Court, feel free to email or call David A. Kaminsky.