How to Sue for an Unpaid Invoice in Texas Small Claims Court

A client owes you money, they have stopped responding, and you are done waiting. If the amount is $20,000 or less, Texas Justice Court is built for this. You file a Small Claims Petition — not a Debt Claim, a separate track under TRCP Rule 508 for claims by assignees, debt collectors or collection agencies, financial institutions, and entities whose business involves extending credit. As the original service provider collecting your own invoice, your case falls under Rules 500–507.

Before You File: The Demand Letter

Send a formal written demand before filing suit. It establishes your paper trail and satisfies the pre-suit notice requirement if you want to recover attorney fees under CPRC § 38.002 — which requires presenting the claim to the other party at least 30 days before filing.

Your demand letter should state:

• The invoice number and date
• The amount owed
• The services performed
• A payment deadline (30 days satisfies the § 38.002 requirement)
• A clear statement that you will file suit if the invoice is not paid

Send it by certified mail, return receipt requested. If the client pays after receiving the demand, you are done. If they ignore it, you have documented proof that you gave them a chance.

Calculating What You Can Claim

Your damages are the unpaid invoice amount plus allowable additions under the $20,000 Justice Court cap:

• Principal invoice amount — the base amount owed for work performed
• Attorney fees — if you hire one (included in the $20,000 cap calculation)
• Pre-judgment interest — accrues automatically and is excluded from the $20,000 cap

Court costs (filing fee, constable service) are also excluded from the cap. You can request that the court order the defendant to pay your court costs if you win.

If you have multiple unpaid invoices from the same client, you can combine them into a single claim as long as the total stays under $20,000. Texas prohibits claim splitting — you cannot file separate suits for portions of the same debt to stay under the cap.

Filing the Petition

File in the Justice of the Peace court in the precinct where the client resides, where the work was performed, or where the contract specifies performance. If the client is a business, check SOSDirect for their registered agent address and use that for service.

You will need:

• Your invoice(s) and any written agreement or contract
• The client's legal name (for a business, the exact registered name — not a trade name)
• The client's service address

Filing fees run $54 in most counties, plus constable service fees. The constable delivers the citation and petition, and the client must file a written answer by the end of the 14th day after service. If that day is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next day that is not one of those days; it also moves to the next business day if the court closes before 5:00 p.m. on the due date.

Your Evidence Package

Invoice disputes are document-heavy cases, which works in your favor — paper trails are harder to argue with than verbal agreements. Print and organize:

• The contract or written agreement (even an email chain confirming scope and rates counts)
• All invoices with dates and amounts
• Proof of work performed — emails, photos, deliverables, completion notices
• Payment history — any partial payments received, with dates
• The demand letter and certified mail receipt showing delivery
• Communication showing the client acknowledged the debt or the work

Prepare three sets of everything: one for the judge, one for the opposing party, one for yourself.

At the Hearing

Present your case chronologically: here is the agreement, here is the work I performed, here is the invoice, here is proof it was delivered, here is my demand letter, here is the lack of response.

Unpaid invoice cases with clear documentation tend to be straightforward. If the client does not appear, you can request a default judgment — the judge may grant it based on your documents alone since the invoice amount is a fixed (liquidated) sum.

If the client disputes the quality of work, be prepared with completion documentation and any correspondence where they accepted the deliverables without objection.

After the Judgment

Winning does not guarantee the client pays. If the judgment goes unpaid after 30 days, you can pursue collection through an Abstract of Judgment (a lien on their property, $5 issuance fee) or a Writ of Execution (directing the constable to seize non-exempt assets). For business clients, a Writ of Garnishment can freeze their bank accounts.

The Texas Small Claims Filing Guide walks through the full process — from demand letter through post-judgment collection — with a service tracking log and deadline calendar to keep your case on schedule.

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