Oregon Small Claim (SC-ClmNotice) - Preparation Worksheet
Oregon Small Claim (SC-ClmNotice) - Preparation Worksheet
Use the Oregon Judicial Department's current Small Claim and Notice of Small Claim (SC-ClmNotice) to file. ORS 46.425(1) requires the court-prescribed claim. This worksheet collects information for that form and is not itself the filing.
1. Court and claim
- Filing county: [COUNTY]. Under ORS 46.560, identify the applicable basis: ☐ defendant resides or may be found there ☐ alleged tort arose there ☐ defendant contracted to perform an obligation there.
- Plaintiff's full name: [PLAINTIFF_NAME]. Inmate SID, if applicable: [SID].
- Plaintiff's street address: [PLAINTIFF_STREET]; city/state/ZIP: [PLAINTIFF_CITY_STATE_ZIP].
- Plaintiff's phone: [PLAINTIFF_PHONE]; county: [PLAINTIFF_COUNTY].
- Interpreter needed: ☐ No ☐ Spanish ☐ ASL ☐ Other: [LANGUAGE].
- Defendant's full name: [DEFENDANT_NAME]. Is the defendant a public body? ☐ No ☐ Yes.
- Defendant's street address, not a P.O. box: [DEFENDANT_STREET]; city/state/ZIP: [DEFENDANT_CITY_STATE_ZIP].
- Defendant's phone: [DEFENDANT_PHONE]; county: [DEFENDANT_COUNTY].
- Registered agent, if the defendant has one: [AGENT_NAME]; street address: [AGENT_STREET]; city/state/ZIP: [AGENT_CITY_STATE_ZIP]; phone: [AGENT_PHONE]; county: [AGENT_COUNTY].
- Additional plaintiffs or defendants for the court form's attachment: [ADDITIONAL_PARTIES_OR_NONE].
2. Claim to transfer to the official form
ORS 46.425(2)(a) calls for a plain and simple statement of the claim, including its amount and the date it allegedly accrued. ORS 46.405(3) generally limits small claims to $10,000 in money, damages, specific personal property, or a penalty or forfeiture; check the section's exceptions before filing.
- Date the claim arose: [CLAIM_DATE].
- What the defendant owes and why, in plain words: [FACTS_AND_BASIS].
- Amount owed or value of specific property: $[CLAIM_AMOUNT]. Property description, if applicable: [PROPERTY].
- Filing fee paid or to be paid: $[FILING_FEE]. Service costs: $[SERVICE_COSTS]. Total requested on the court form: $[TOTAL]. Use the court's current fee information for these fields.
- Amounts arising from the same transaction or occurrence: [OTHER_AMOUNTS_OR_NONE]. ORS 46.425(3) generally requires them to be included, with an exception for actions arising under ORS chapter 90 and special treatment of installments.
3. Good-faith collection effort and declaration
ORS 46.425(2)(b)-(c) requires a good-faith effort to collect before filing and an affidavit or an ORCP 1 E declaration covering the claim and that effort.
- Date, method, recipient, and result of collection effort: [COLLECTION_EFFORT].
- Documents supporting the amount and collection effort: [DOCUMENTS].
- If the court form's consumer-debt boxes apply, identify the applicable disclosures and attachments required by the form: [DISCLOSURES_OR_NOT_APPLICABLE].
- Plaintiff who will sign the official court form: [SIGNER_NAME]. Date: [__/__/____]. Email for the form: [EMAIL].
This worksheet is not a declaration or affidavit. Complete the declaration and signature fields on the official form.
4. Filing and service information
- Court address and phone confirmed for the selected county: [COURT_CONTACT].
- Current defendant hearing and jury-request fee amounts for the notice portion of SC-ClmNotice: [FEES].
- Filing date and case number supplied by the court: [FILING_DATE]; [CASE_NUMBER].
- Planned service method and address: [SERVICE_PLAN]. Under ORS 46.445(3), the notice and claim may be served by a circuit-court summons-and-complaint method or certified mail marked “Deliver to Addressee Only” and “Return Receipt Requested”; unsuccessful certified mail requires the other method.
- Proof of service to retain or file as the court directs: [PROOF_OF_SERVICE].
The current court form tells the defendant to respond within 30 days after receiving the notice and explains the limited jury-trial option when the stated amount, including identified prejudgment interest, fees, and costs, exceeds $750. Use the notice printed on the official form; this worksheet does not replace it.
Official sources
About this template
- Last updated
- October 23, 2026
- Jurisdiction
- Oregon
- Category
- Litigation & Court Documents
Legal authority
- ORS 46.405 — Small claims jurisdiction
- ORS 46.455 — Defendant response and jury-trial request
- ORS 46.465 — Procedure after a jury-trial request
- ORS 46.485 — Effect and finality of small claims judgment
- ORS 46.425 — Court-prescribed claim and required contents
- ORS 46.445 — Notice and service
- ORS 46.560 — County for commencement and trial
These are the filings that drive a lawsuit through the system: complaints, answers, motions, briefs, discovery requests and responses, and post-judgment papers. Each has its own format requirements under federal and state procedural rules, and each has a deadline that cannot be missed without consequences. Clean, procedurally correct filings move a case forward; sloppy ones invite motions to strike, amended responses, and avoidable delays.
Not legal advice
This template is provided for informational purposes. We recommend having an attorney review any legal document before signing, especially for high-value or complex matters.
Checked against the law it cites
The statutes this template relies on are listed under Legal authority.
ORS 46.405(2) (checked October 20, 2026): "All actions for the recovery of money, damages, specific personal property, or any penalty or forfeiture must be commenced and prosecuted in the small claims department if the amount or value claimed in the action does not exceed $750."
ORS 46.405 (checked October 20, 2026): "An action for the recovery of money, damages, specific personal property, or any penalty or forfeiture may be commenced and prosecuted in the small claims department if the amount or value claimed in the action does not exceed $10,000."
ORS 46.425 (checked October 20, 2026): "An action in the small claims department shall be commenced by the plaintiff’s filing with the clerk of the court a claim in the form prescribed by the court."
ORS 46.425(2)(b) (checked October 20, 2026): "State that the plaintiff made a good faith effort to collect the claim from the defendant before filing the claim with the clerk."
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