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1. What is a civil case?

Generally, a civil case is a court procedure for working out a disagreement between 2 people, businesses or organizations. The disagreement usually involves one person believing that he or she has been hurt, had their rights violated or property damaged by another person. A civil case is not a criminal case.

2. What is a plaintiff and what's their role?

If you are the one starting the case, you are called the plaintiff, and the person or business you are suing is called the defendant. In most civil cases, the plaintiff is asking for a specific amount of money to be paid by the defendant. However, in some civil cases, the plaintiff may be asking the court to tell the defendant to stop some behavior or to do a specific thing. The plaintiff is responsible for paying the filing fees, and most other required fees such as service fees. In a civil case, both the plaintiff and the defendant may be represented by an attorney, unless the case is filed as a small claims case.

3. What are filing fees and costs associated with the case?

The district court will handle the case if the claim is for $25,000 or less. The case can be filed in the district court where the incident occurred, or in the district court where the defendant lives. The filing fee varies with the amount of the claim.

If the amount of the claim is more than $25,000, the circuit court will handle the case. The case can be filed in the circuit court where the incident occurred, or in the circuit court in the county where the
defendant lives.

For disputes involving amounts of $1,750 or less, the plaintiff and defendant can elect to file the case with the small claims division of the district court.

4. What is a small claims court?

In a small claims court, the plaintiff is responsible for paying the filing fee and other fees. If the judge rules in favor of the plaintiff, the fees may be added to the judgment against the defendant.

It is important to realize that if a money judgment is ordered by the judge, the defendant may not automatically pay the money and court costs to the plaintiff. You may have to take additional steps to obtain your money. One of the ways to collect is to garnish the defendant's wages or bank account. Garnishments are addressed elsewhere on this page.

Many courts are offering mediation as an alternative to filing a small claims case. You may want to contact the small claims clerk to see if a mediation program is available in your community.

5. What are the definitions of a tenant and a landlord?

If you are renting a home, apartment, mobile home, or some other building from someone, you are a tenant. A landlord is the person who is renting the home, apartment, mobile home, or some building to you. Both the tenant and the landlord have legal rights.

6. What is a Notice to Quit?

A tenant can be evicted from the property for a variety of reasons. Some common reasons are failure to pay rent, destruction of property and refusal to follow rules and regulations.
Before a landlord can file a lawsuit to evict the tenant, the tenant must be served a Notice to Quit.

After the specified time on the Notice to Quit has passed, a complaint may be filed in district court. There is a fee for filing the complaint. A copy of the complaint and a notice of the court hearing must be served on the tenant.

7. What happens if I as a tenant fail to appear before court?

If the tenant fails to appear at the court hearing and answer the complaint, a default judgment for possession of the property and money judgments may be entered 10 days after the default judgment has been entered, the landlord may obtain a document called a Writ of Restitution. This authorizes the landlord to evict the tenant and remove the tenant's belongings from the rental property.

8. What if a tenant disagrees with the eviction notice?

A tenant who disagrees with the eviction notice may request a trial. If a jury trial is requested, the court may require the tenant to deposit future rent payments into an escrow account until the case is settled.