North Dakota Small Claims Court Limit: $15,000 Cap and What Counts

The jurisdictional limit for North Dakota small claims court is $15,000. That's the maximum you can claim in a single case, set by N.D.C.C. § 27-08.1-01(1). The cap applies to your principal demand — court costs that the judge awards to the winner don't count toward it.

What Falls Under the $15,000 Cap

Small claims court covers three categories of disputes:

1. Money recovery — someone owes you money and won't pay (unpaid invoices, security deposits, loan repayments, property damage)
2. Tenant civil damages — monetary claims under N.D.C.C. § 47-10-28(9) related to mobile home park lease violations
3. Agreement cancellation — voiding a contract that involved material fraud, deception, misrepresentation or false promise

As long as the amount is $15,000 or less and the claim fits one of these categories, it belongs in small claims court.

What Doesn't Qualify

Some types of cases are excluded regardless of the dollar amount:

• Evictions — must go through the formal summary ejectment process in district court
• Injunctions or restraining orders — small claims can only award money, not orders to do or stop doing something
• Quiet title actions — property ownership disputes go to district court
• Divorce and child custody — family law matters are outside small claims jurisdiction
• Claims by debt collectors or debt buyers — N.D.C.C. § 27-08.1-01(3) bars them from filing

You also can't bring equitable claims like specific performance (forcing someone to complete a contract). If you need the defendant to do something rather than pay you, district court is the only option.

What If Your Claim Exceeds $15,000?

You have two options:

Waive the excess. You can voluntarily reduce your claim to $15,000 and proceed in small claims court. This is simpler and cheaper than district court, but the waiver is permanent — you can never recover the difference in any future lawsuit. If you're owed $18,000, you'd be giving up $3,000 forever.

File in district court. The filing fee is $160 (compared to $20 for small claims), formal rules of evidence apply, and the process takes longer. But you can claim the full amount, and either side can appeal.

The breakeven calculation depends on your claim. For amounts slightly over $15,000, the $3,000–$5,000 you'd waive might be less than the attorney fees and time you'd spend in district court. For larger overages, district court makes more sense.

Counterclaims Follow the Same Limit

If the defendant files a counterclaim against you (using Form 4), it must also be $15,000 or less. Compulsory counterclaim rules don't apply to amounts exceeding the cap — meaning a defendant can't be forced to raise a counterclaim in small claims if it's worth more than $15,000.

Splitting Claims Is Prohibited

You cannot break a single dispute into multiple smaller lawsuits to stay under the $15,000 cap. If you're owed $25,000 from one transaction, you can't file one case for $15,000 and another for $10,000; splitting a single claim to evade the cap is prohibited.

The North Dakota small claims filing guide helps you calculate whether your claim fits within the limit and walks through the waiver decision with cost-comparison worksheets.

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