10/25/2019 Make A Complaint Civil Action
How do I know what type of claim to file?The Justice of the Peace Court handles four basic types of civil cases which are described below.Debt ActionsA debt action is a claim for a sum of money. Examples of debt actions include money claimed on aloan, money claimed for purchases made, money claimed because work forwhich payment has been made was not completed or properly done, moneyclaimed for unpaid rent, security deposits not returned, etc.Trespass ActionsA civil trespass action involvesthe wrongful, intentional, or negligent actions of a person that resultedin damage to another's property. Do I need an attorney?An individual may appear in theJustice of the Peace Court without an attorney. However, if you are unfamiliarwith the legal issues and procedures in your case, you may want to considerconsulting with a lawyer.If you are a corporation or otherartificial entity or a public body, you may only appear in a Justice ofthe Peace Court without a lawyer if you file a (Civil Form 50) with the Chief Magistrate. And complywith the other provisions of Supreme Court Rule 57. This Certificate mustbe filed prior to filing your complaint or answer.
The Certificate ofRepresentation must be renewed annually. There is a $20.00 annual registrationfee.How To Find a LawyerIIf you need help in finding a lawyer, you may wish to contact the.If you wish to obtain free legal assistance, when you visit the Legal Help Link page, you will be asked questions concerning your income and the type of case in which you are involved make you eligible for such assistance. No fee generating cases may be handled.If you are not eligible for freelegal assistance, the Legal Help Link will refer you to the Lawyer ReferralProgram. This program will select an attorney, convenient to you, withwhom you can meet to discuss your particular problem.
The selected attorneywill consult with you for 30 minutes for a fee of $35. Often, this initialvisit may answer your questions or enable you to solve the problem onyour own, If, however, additional services are needed and you decide tohire the referred attorney, fees and additional costs would be arrangedbetween you and the attorney.The Legal Help Link is a collaborativeeffort among the Delaware State Bar Association, Delaware Volunteer LegalServices, Inc., Widener University School of Law, Community Legal AidSociety, Inc., and the Legal Services Corporation of Delaware, Inc. How to name a defendantIt is very important to name the Defendant correctlybecause you will only be able to collect from the party or parties whosename is exactly the same as the name that appears on your claim.
You mustknow the full name and correct address of the party being sued and whetherthe party is an individual, sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership,limited liability company, association, estate or trust.If you are suing an individual, write his or herfirst name, middle initial (if known) and last name.If you are suing a business owned by one person,you must write both the owner and the company name. You should also namethe owner as the individual to increase your chances of collecting ifyou win. Write the letters 'dba' which stands for 'DoingBusiness As' between the name of the owner and the company name,if the owner is doing business under a fictitious name.
For example, youwould write John A. Doe, individual & dba Delaware Donuts.If you are suing both a husband and wife, write boththeir full names. For example, John A. Doe and Mary B.
Mar 29, 2019 - Part 3. Filing Your Lawsuit. Prepare your complaint. To sue someone, you must prepare a document called a complaint that you will file with the court. File your complaint at the courthouse. Serve the defendant. Gather facts about your case through discovery. Conduct “informal investigation.”. Jump to How do I file a complaint? - Go to the Magistrate Clerk's office in the county where your problem is located and ask for a Civil Complaint.
They willbe served separately.If you are suing a corporation, you should writethe name of the corporation as, for example:John's Donuts, Inc.If a corporation owns a division or subsidiary,it should be written as in the following example:Doe Corporation, doing business as 'John's Donuts'. If you can't find the person you want to sue, you may find the following information helpful in locating them.If the person has moved, address an envelope to him or her at his or her last known address. Several spaces below your return address, write, 'Address Service Requested.'
If the Post Office has a change of address for the person, the Post Office will take the following steps:. Month 1 through 12: Piece forwarded, separate notice of new address provided to sender.
Months 13 through 18: Piece returned with new address attached. After month 18: Piece returned with reason for non-delivery attachedIf the Post Office does not have a change of address, the mail will be returned with the reason for non-delivery attached.The County Recorder of Deed's Office maintains a listing of property owners by name and lists the location of the propertyowned.
The Recorder of Deed's Offices are located as follows. How to fill out and file the complaintTo start an action, you must fill out a complaint.Before filling out your complaint, you should:.Determine whether the type (see ) and amount (see )of your claim can be handled in the Justiceof the Peace Court. If so, you should be sure to remember which typeof claim you have as this will be important in filling out the complaint.Obtain and use the correct name (see ) and address of the defendant.Determine whether anyone other than the defendant needs to be namedfor service (This is necessary if you are suing a corporation, an insurancecompany, or the State of Delaware or one of its agencies or officials.)and read the information on to determinewhether any special procedures for service are required.Obtain a (Civil Form No.1). The complaint form may be obtained at any Justiceof the Peace Civil Court or may be downloaded.
In addition, an Interactive complaint form may be accessed.Now you are ready to fill out your complaint. The same form isused for all types of civil complaints. However, there are specific statutoryrequirements as to what must be included for some types of actions. Inaddition, in Landlord/tenant (summary possession) actions, there are alsospecific notice requirements which must be met by landlords. These noticerequirements and other information relating to summary possession actionsare explained in the booklet.It is important that you familiarize yourself with the requirementsfor the type of action which you are filing. How the defendant is notified of the suit (service of process)General Procedures:After you have filed your complaint with the Court, the Court willattempt to serve (deliver the documents to) the defendant unless youtell the Court that you wish to hire a special process server or if youare suing an.The cost of service by the Court is included in the filing fee. However,there are additional fees, as well as special procedures involvedwhen suing an, an, or.You should also be aware that special procedures apply if you are or any of its agencies or officers.Also, if you choose to use a, you will have to pay the process server a fee in additionto your filing fee.If the Court attempts to serve the complaint (or any other court documents)on the defendant and is unable to do so, you will receive a Noticeof Failure to Serve Complaint (Civil Form No.
9) which will state thereason the Court was unable to serve the papers. (When the Court is unableto serve the papers, this is called a 'non est' return of service.)Once you have additional information as to the location where theparties may be served, you will need to file an 'alias' requestfor service. ('Alias is the second attempt of service after the firstattempt was unsuccessful.) There is an additional fee for issuing an aliassummons and you will need a new (J.P. 1) to begin the action.Special Procedures apply when suing:. How to file an application for a waiver of court feesThe application for filing a fee waiver is contained below.
Youmay either obtain the necessary forms from the Court or you may them. All applicants must fill in the(Civil Form 49).
Onlypersons who have been told by a Delaware Court that they may not file futureclaims without the permission of the court due to having filed frivolousor malicious litigation, should fill out the second form, the (Civil Form 49A).The application (and the Affidavit of Good Cause,if you are required to file it) must be signed in front of a notarypublic or a justice of the peace. You should be aware that in signingthe application (and the Affidavit of Good Cause, if necessary), you areswearing or affirming, under penalty of perjury, that the informationis true and correct. If you wish to sign in front of a notary, and donot know of one, you may find a list of notaries in the yellow pages ofthe telephone book.The signed and notarized fee waiver documents shouldbe filed with the Court along with your complaint.Also included, for your information, are the incomeeligibility guidelines which are used by the Court in determiningwhether an in forma pauperis application should be granted. When applicantshave both income and assets at or below the guidelines, the Court willgenerally approve the application. At income or asset levels above thoseshown in the guidelines, the Court will determine whether the applicanthas any unusual necessary expenses which may cause the Court to grantthe application.In addition to looking at the applicant'sincome and asset levels, the Court will review the applicant's complaintto determine whether the action is factually frivolous (baseless, or ofno importance), malicious (designed to injure or harass), or legally frivolous(without legal merit).
If the complaint fits within any of these categories,the Court will deny the request for the fee waiver and will dismiss theaction.
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