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Small claims court practice is well covered on the nycourts.gov website. Review the links below and contact your local court for local court practice.

There is no separate small claims court. Instead, small claims is a special part of any of four different trial courts. The procedures for small claims parts are contained in Art 18 Small Claims and Art 18-A Commercial in the particular court act for each court.

• City Court (cities other than New York City)
  • Uniform City Court Act
• District Court (Nassau County and parts of Suffolk County)
  • Uniform District Court Act
• Justice Court (town and village courts elsewhere in the state)
  • Uniform Justice Court Act
• New York City Civil Court (New York City)
  • New York City Civil Court Act

An invaluable book on small claims court can be found in the Lexis service available free of charge in the public access law libraries. It is also available on the public link below.  New York Small Claims Manual written by Judge Gerald Lebovits and Mark H. Shawhan "is the most comprehensive and detailed manual on small-claims litigation available to judges, court attorneys, arbitrators, referees, and practitioners in the State of New York."