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Philippine Small Claims Court: How To Make People Pay The Money They Owe You


This article is posted under General Information, Personal Finance.

Do you know someone, perhaps a friend, who borrowed money from you and after all this time, has not bothered to pay you back?

Do you have a business, perhaps a sari-sari store, where one of your neighbors have accumulated credit so high they’re now avoiding you or making silly excuses already because they don’t want to pay anymore?

Don’t fret, because there is still hope for you to get your money back or get paid.

Thanks to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, we now have the Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases which allows any individual or business to file a case against someone who owes them money.

Below is a 15-minute primer video, that shows how to file for small claims cases in the Philippines. It’s surprisingly easy and you don’t even have to hire a lawyer anymore.

I hope you take the time to watch this very informative (and I must day, highly entertaining) video.

Again, as a reminder, to be able to file a case against your debtor under the Rule of Procedure for Small Claims Cases, the money claim should not exceed P100,000, which should already include interests and penalty fees (if there’s any). If the money being claimed is more than that amount, then the plaintiff would have to go to regular court.

Here are the basic steps in filing for a Small Claims Case in the Philippines:

  1. Go to either one of these places to file your case:
    • First level court of the city where you live
    • First level court of the city where your debtor (defendant) lives
  2. First level courts are defined as any of the following:
    • Metropolitan Trial Court
    • Municipal Trial Courts in Cities
    • Municipal Trial Court
    • Municipal Circuit Trial Courts
  3. Go to the Office of the Clerk of Court and fill up the following forms:
    • Information for Plaintiff
    • Statement of Claim
    • Certification of Non-Forum Shopping
  4. As plaintiff, you would also need to accomplish a Verified Statement of Claim which certifies that all information you gave is correct and you have not filed the same case in any other court.
  5. You would also need to provide other important documents that will show sufficient proof that the loan occurred, this can be ANY of the following:
    • Signed contracts by the defendants
    • Promissory notes, receipts, bank deposit slips, checks and other “paper trails”
    • Latest demand letter with proof of delivery and proof of receipt
    • Affidavits of witnesses
  6. After this, the plaintiff will then have to pay a small amount to file the case. According to a lawyer friend, this is usually around P1,250.00.

What happens next?

Now that all the documents are submitted, and all administrative fees are paid, the court will then assign the case to a judge (through a raffle) and if it’s found that there is merit to the case, the defendants will be given a Summon, Notice of Hearing, Information for the Defendant, Response Form and other documents.

Then, the plaintiff will be informed and will be sent a Notice of Hearing which will state the scheduled date and time of appearance in court.

During the Settlement Discussion, the two parties, with the mediation of the judge, will have the chance to settle the case. If no agreement happens, the case will now move to a court hearing which should occur on the same day.

Lastly, at the hearing, the judge will now make his or her decision regarding the case. The decision is final, non-appealable and immediately executory.

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That’s it, I hope you were able to learn a lot today. Do check out these two related articles which I’ve written before:

Moreover, I’d like to ask everyone to please spread the word regarding this very important law. You can use the buttons below to share this article on your Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus streams.

Learn more great information like this by subscribing to Ready To Be Rich.

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This entry was posted by on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 4:45 am and is filed under General Information, Personal Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. If it's your first time to comment here, your post could be held for moderation and won't appear until approved. Off-topic responses and self-promotion posts can and will be deleted.



15 Responses to “Philippine Small Claims Court: How To Make People Pay The Money They Owe You”

  1. Thank you Fritz for sharing this informative video! :)

  2. This is a very good article and a very good judicial development. Thank you very much for sharing.

  3. Thank you very much. This will surely help a lot of people.

  4. Very interesting. I hope they are able to sustain this and provide simpler procedures. Baka naman it might take years before a case involving a Php100 debt be finalized. =)

  5. I think I needed this one. Very timely. Thanks

  6. Informative, and yes, highly entertaining. :) Thanks!

  7. i have a question sir.i have a customer who owed me 30t cash and 50t in checks.its been more than 1year since the last time he paid me 10k.he keeps on promising to me pay me everytime i ask him.if i decide to go on court to claim what is rightfully mine i have one problem though.i dont know where he lives since we transact only in the store.we build trust to each since we do business more than a year.my question is what am i going to do since i do not know where he lives?

  8. good morning …mayron po akong kinasuhan ng small clims kasi po may utang sya sakin 30,000.00 pesos noong august nagpagawa kmi ng kasulatan sa atty. na magbabayd sya ng kanyang utang after 3months. hangang sa dumating po ang duedate wala naman sya binibigay na bayad pinuntahan ko sya kanyang bahay sya pa ang galit. tinanong ko sa aking atty. kong ano po ang aking gagagwin para makabayad ang taong may utang sakin advise nya po mag file ako ng smal claims tapos po ginawa ko nga nag file ako ng small claims at nag skedule ung judge para magka usap kmi sumipot naman po sya sa skedule ng aming pag uusap. sabi nya po bigyan ko sya ng 30days pra makabigay ng 10 k tapos ung balance hulog hulugan nya monthly pumayag po ako. hanagang sa dumating ang duedate na hiningi nya d naman nahgpakita sakin o nagbigay ng bayad, bumalik po ako sa court kong saan kmi nag usap nagtanong po ako s amga tao doon kong ano na ang gagawin ko sbi po nila mag file ako ng motion for execution. pinuntahan naman po sya ng sheriff kaso po ang sabi walang naman kming makukuhang mga gamit para pambayad sa utang sakin.nadagdagan pa tuloy ung gastos ko kasi nagbayad ako sa court ng 2700.00pesos sa pag file ng small claims. tinanong ko ung sheriff kong papano na un hangang doon nal;ang po ba un pag walang ma sheriff wla napo bang ibang paraan. tulungan nyo po ako kong ano ang aking gagagwin kasi po sa tingin ko wala ng pag poporsige ang taong nag utang sakin para maka bayad kasi po alam nya na di sya makukulong, ano po ba ang sunod kong gagawin para matakot sya at gumwa ng paraan para magbayad???? tulungan nyo po sana ako salamat po. godbless

  9. sir after po ba na puntahan ng sheriff ang taong may utang ang sabihin wala sya pamabayad o kahit na anong bagay wala sya maibigay para maibayad ano na po ba ang sunod kong gagawin. sabi po kasi sakin ng sheriff wala na kming magagwa. hangang sheriff nalang po ba ang small claims.. tulungan nyo naman po ako kong ano po ang aking sunod na prosiso o gagawin. after sheriff??thank you

  10. good morning,
    di kasi ako makatulog don sa naging desisyon ng judge sa sinampahan kong kaso na small claim. ako po ang nagdemanda, gumastos ako para masingil ko ang dinedemanda ko dahil hindi nagbayad don sa balanse nya sakin na 24,100 pesos bilang kabayaran nia don sa pinagawa nyang mga salamin sakin sa malolos.
    ung naging desisyon desisyon ng judge ako pa ang pinagbabayad ng 25,000 pesos sa dinedemanda ko bilang moral damages daw sa dinemanda ko.
    grabe at ako pa ang napahamak sa desisyon ng judge samantalang ako na ang naniningil don sa sinisingil ko pero bakit naging ganon dehado na nga ako at lalo pa akong naging dehado sa nangyari.
    please tulungan nyo ako sa nakakaalam kung paano gagawin ko ngayon

    di ako makapaniwala at may batas pala tayong ganito na lalo kang maiipit sa pagdedemanda ko ng small claims

  11. Hi magtanong lang po meron kasi nagpagawa sa amin ng ng mga gown last around oct- nov ang wedding nila january 23,2013.
    january 21,2013 punta cla sa shop at nagiwan ng check php 21k++ sa sale staff namin dated january 21,2012 hindi napansin ng staff namin na 2012 ang nakalagay pinasok namin sa bank nagreturn sa amin yung check. ang problema nagtatago na ngayon yung nagissue ng check. pwede ba namin kasuhan ito ng BP22? ask ko din kung 21k++ ang worth ng check criminal case parin b?

    please help us.
    thank you

  12. hi sir paano po kung 2,000 pesos lang ang inutang sakin pro hndi lang po ako ang inutangan niya pati ung iba ko pong kakilala inutangan nya small claim case p din po ba un? atska wala po kasi kaming proof n umutang sya bsta lumapit sya smin at umutang may laban po b yun thanks po

  13. can you refer me a collection attorney? a good one and reputable company

    thanks,.

  14. what will happen to the defendant if he/she lose a case .. will they be jailed.

  15. hi Sir, may hinahabol po akong tao ngaun kasi hindi pa niya ako narefundan ng P6000 sa pinag-usapan naming product na hindi natuloy.
    alam ko po kung saan sya nagtatrabaho pero hindi ko pa po xa nakikita at di ko pa rin po alam kung anu address nya. pwede ko bang ifile to as small claims? qualified po ba ito lalo na dahil hindi ko po alam saan sya nakatira aside sa company address niya?
    pag-nanalo po ba ako, maba2yaran ba ako ng 6k+ damages at expenses paid sa pagfile ng CASE?
    humihingi po ako ng inyong payo Sir!
    salamat ng marami.

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