Multiple Defendants Small Claims Court Minnesota: Form CCT702 and Filing Rules

Sometimes one dispute involves more than one person who owes you money — two roommates on a lease, a contractor and a subcontractor, joint owners of a business, or co-borrowers on a loan. Minnesota Conciliation Court lets you sue multiple defendants in the same case, but there are specific rules about forms, venue, and service.

Form CCT702: Additional Litigants

Form CCT102 (Plaintiff's Statement of Claim and Summons) has space for one plaintiff and one defendant. If your case has additional parties on either side, you attach Form CCT702 (Conciliation Court Additional Litigants Form) to list them.

CCT702 captures the same information for each additional party: full legal name, address, and their role in the case (additional plaintiff or additional defendant). Submit it together with your CCT102 when you file.

Venue With Multiple Defendants

When you sue more than one defendant, you file in the county where any one of them resides. You do not need to find a county where all defendants live.

If Defendant A lives in Hennepin County and Defendant B lives in Dakota County, you can file in either Hennepin or Dakota. This gives you some flexibility — choose the county that is more convenient for you, as long as at least one defendant is a resident there.

For landlord-tenant claims, the rental property's county is proper. A case against two or more defendants may also be brought in a county where one or more defendants resides. For a security-deposit claim, the tenant may also choose the landlord's county of residence.

Serving Each Defendant

Every defendant must be individually served. You cannot serve one defendant and assume the others know about the case.

For claims at or below $2,500, the court clerk handles service for all defendants by first-class mail. For claims over $2,500, you must arrange and pay for service to each defendant separately — certified mail with restricted delivery or a process server for each one.

File Form CCT103 (Affidavit of Service) for each defendant, proving that each was served. The 60-day service deadline applies to all defendants. If you serve three out of four, the case proceeds only against the three who were served.

Joint and Several Liability

Whether defendants are "jointly and severally" liable depends on the contract and the type of claim. For fault-based claims involving injury, property damage, or economic loss, Minnesota generally apportions damages by percentage of fault. A person whose fault is greater than 50 percent, people acting in a common scheme or plan, and intentional tortfeasors are jointly and severally liable for the whole award under § 604.02.

For example, if two roommates signed a lease that makes them jointly and severally liable for $3,000 in unpaid rent, you may seek the full amount from either one. If the lease does not impose that obligation, the result depends on the agreement and applicable law.

Whether joint and several liability applies depends on the legal relationship. Joint contracts, partnerships, and co-tortfeasors (people who jointly caused the damage) typically produce joint and several liability. Separate, unrelated debts do not.

When Separate Cases Are Better

If the defendants' obligations are truly separate — different contracts, different amounts, different facts — filing separate claims may be cleaner. Multi-defendant cases can get complicated at the hearing, especially if the defendants blame each other. The judge handles all the claims at once, which can muddy the evidence.

For a complete guide to filing in Minnesota Conciliation Court, including multi-party cases, see the Filing a Small Claims Case in Minnesota guide.

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