Michigan: Small Claims Court Dollar Limits

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Michigan's small claims division is created by MCL 600.8401 as a division of the district court in every district, with the current $7,000 jurisdictional figure written directly into that section. Section 600.8407 sets filing restrictions (including the weekly cap and who may file for a business). Section 600.8408 governs attorney participation and how a party can remove a case out of the small claims division. Section 600.8412 spells out what rights a party gives up by staying in small claims, and § 600.8427 governs the one available appeal route.

Dollar limit

$7,000, exclusive of interest and costs, effective January 1, 2024 under § 600.8401(1)(e). That figure is the last step of a statutory escalator written directly into the same subsection: $3,000 (before 2012), then $5,000 (September 2012), $5,500 (2015), $6,000 (2018), $6,500 (2021), and finally $7,000 (2024). The current text schedules no further increase, so $7,000 should hold until the legislature amends it again.

Limit for businesses/entities

No separate, lower (or higher) dollar figure — a corporation, LLC, partnership, sole proprietorship, or eligible government entity is capped at the same $7,000 as an individual. Two other rules do single out entities, though: an assignee of a claim, or a claimant suing only as a third-party beneficiary of someone else's contract, may not file in small claims at all (§ 600.8407(1)); and when a business or government entity does appear, it must be represented specifically by "an officer or employee who has direct and personal knowledge of facts in dispute" (§ 600.8408(2)-(3)) — not by an uninvolved employee or outside counsel.

Court name and where to file

There's no separately branded "Small Claims Court" — it's the small claims division, a division that exists within the district court of every Michigan district under § 600.8401.

Can you bring a lawyer?

No, not while the case stays in the small claims division. Section 600.8408(1) bars "an attorney at law, except on the attorney's own behalf ... or a person other than the plaintiff and defendant" from taking any part in filing, prosecuting, or defending a small claims case — a flat bar, not a "not required" rule like some states use. The only escape route is procedural: before the trial starts, either party can demand removal of the whole case to the district court's general civil division (§ 600.8408(4)), which restores the right to counsel along with a jury trial and the ability to recover more than $7,000. Simply asking for a district judge instead of a magistrate within the small claims division does not restore the right to a lawyer — only a full removal does.

Limit on how many claims you can file

Not an annual cap — a weekly one. Section 600.8407(2)(a) bars filing more than 5 small claims actions in a single district court district in one week; a county, city, village, or township filing in its own right gets a higher allowance, up to 20 per week (§ 600.8407(2)(b)).

Can you appeal?

It depends entirely on who heard your case. Filing in small claims waives "any right of appeal" under § 600.8412 — unless the hearing was conducted by a district court magistrate rather than a judge. In that case, § 600.8427 gives either party a de novo appeal, as of right, to a district court judge, due within 7 days of the magistrate's decision — but that's the end of the line: "further appeal from the judgment of the district court judge shall not be available to either party." If a district judge heard the case directly (rather than a magistrate), there is no appeal at all.

What you can sue for

Money only — § 600.8401 confines the division's jurisdiction to "cases for the recovery of money," with no equitable, injunctive, or possessory relief available. Certain claim types are barred from the forum entirely regardless of dollar amount: fraud, libel, slander, assault, battery, and other intentional torts (§ 600.8424(1)), apart from a narrow carve-out for a Michigan Consumer Protection Act fraud claim or a specific natural-resources-act claim. The state and most other governmental agencies can't be sued here at all, though a county, city, village, township, or school district may sue or be sued, subject to whatever immunity it otherwise has (§ 600.8424(2)-(3)).

What trips people up

Asking for a judge instead of a magistrate doesn't get you a lawyer. People sometimes assume that requesting a district judge hear the case restores normal civil rights. It doesn't — the attorney bar and jury waiver stay in place either way. The only way to get a lawyer involved is a full removal to the general civil division before trial, which also uncaps the recovery amount and adds a jury option.

Whether you can appeal depends on a fact you may not control: who happened to hear your case. A magistrate's decision gets one appeal to a judge; a judge's decision is simply final. Ask who's presiding before you assume you'll have a second chance.

The filing limit resets weekly, not yearly. A business that files small claims regularly needs to track a rolling 5-per-week limit per district, not an annual quota — file a 6th claim in the same district in the same week and it's barred by statute.

Common questions

Can I hire a lawyer just to help me prepare, even if they can't appear with me? The statute bars an attorney from taking part in the filing, prosecution, or defense of the case itself, not from advising you beforehand — but they cannot appear or act on your behalf unless the case is removed out of small claims first.

If I lose in front of a magistrate, is that it? No — you get one de novo appeal to a district court judge, due within 7 days, but that judge's decision is final; there's no second appeal after that.

My LLC wants to sue for $9,000 — can we still use small claims? Yes, but you'd have to voluntarily cap your claim at $7,000 and give up the rest (§ 600.8425(1)), or file in the general civil division instead where the cap doesn't apply.

Statutes and sources

• MCL 600.8401 — "the amount claimed does not exceed the following: ... Beginning January 1, 2024, $7,000.00." — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-8401 — accessed 2026-07-09
• MCL 600.8407(1)-(3) — "A claim shall not be filed or prosecuted ... by an assignee ... a person shall not file more than 5 claims [per week]." — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-8407 — accessed 2026-07-09
• MCL 600.8408 — "An attorney at law ... shall not take part in the filing, prosecution, or defense of litigation in the small claims division." — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-8408 — accessed 2026-07-09
• MCL 600.8412 — "all parties ... shall be considered to have waived the right to counsel, the right to trial by jury ... and any right of appeal, except that if the action is heard before a district court magistrate ... the parties have a right to an appeal." — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-8412 — accessed 2026-07-09
• MCL 600.8425(1) — "A person having a claim in excess of the applicable jurisdictional amount ... may institute an action in the small claims division but may not claim or recover more than the jurisdictional amount." — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-8425 — accessed 2026-07-09
• MCL 600.8427 — "If the hearing is conducted by a district court magistrate, an appeal de novo as of right may be taken by either party ... within 7 days ... Further appeal ... shall not be available to either party." — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-8427 — accessed 2026-07-09
• MCL 600.8424(1)-(3) — "Actions of fraud and actions of libel, slander, assault, battery, or other intentional torts shall not be instituted in the small claims division." — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-8424 — accessed 2026-07-09