I-CAN!™ Small Claims E-Filing

I-CAN!™ Legal E-Files Small Claims suits and counter-suits for courts in Orange County. When you E-File, you will need to pay your filing fees and a $14.95 fee to print your forms and e-file online using our secure payment system (unless you file a Fee Waiver). You can pay with Visa, MasterCard or Discover. You can use I-CAN!™ Legal to prepare Small Claims forms to print and file in person at any Small Claims Court in California for $4.95 (unless you file a Fee Waiver).


I-CAN!™ Legal Website Features

If you want to read instructions on how to file your forms, how to deliver forms to the other party, or how to prepare for your court hearing click on Instructions. Click on Small Claims Factsheets for help with common issues in Small Claims Court. If you only need to fill out a particular form, click on Blank Forms. The I-CAN!™ Legal website also allows you to watch short educational videos about court processes. Click on Watch Videos to browse through our selection.


Small Claims E-Filing FAQ


I have a question, who can I call?
Can I-CAN!™ Legal electronically file (E-File) my forms?
How do I submit my E-Filing?
How do I check the status of my E-Filing?
Is my computer ready to print my forms?
How do I print my E-Filed forms?
What if my E-Filing is not accepted?
How do I find out where and when my court hearing is?
How do I resubmit a filing that was rejected?
How do I find out if my Court Certified mailing was delivered?
How do I submit my completed proof of service (Form SC-104)?
The court date or case information doesn't print but everything else does.
List of Small Claims Forms available.

 

I have a question, who can I call?

You can call the free Claims Advisor at 714 571 5277. Their hours are Monday through Friday 9 am to 5 pm. If you need software support you can email ican@legal-aid.com.

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Can I-CAN!™ Legal electronically file (E-File) my court forms?

I-CAN!™ Legal E-Files Small Claims suits and counter-suits for courts in Orange County. You can also e-file a request to have the court serve a party by certified mail along with your suit.

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How do I submit my E-Filing?

You can use I-CAN!™ Legal to e-file many Small Claims forms if you are creating forms for Orange County. There is a $14.95 convenience fee to e-file, unless you are also e-filing a Fee Waiver.

To e-file your forms, review your forms to ensure they are correct and complete. Click "Next" on the screen that lists your forms and you will be prompted to e-file your forms if you choose to.

When you e-file your forms you will need to check back on this website to verify the court has accepted them, and you can print them, and then serve them on the other party as required.

Your forms will have the time, date, and location of the court hearing printed on them.

If you forget to log in and print and serve the forms, your court date will pass and no order will be made. You will then have to start over, file and pay your filing fees again.

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How do I check the status of my E-Filing?

To check the status of your E-Filing, log back into I-CAN!™ Legal.

Detailed step by step instructions are below:

  1. Click on the link at the top of this page "Already have an I-CAN!™ password? Login Here"
  2. Enter your username and password and click "Next".
  3. A list of your cases is displayed, the column "Status" will display your filing status.
  4. The column "Available Actions" will allow you to see what action to take next. Click on this to continue.
  5. If your filing is accepted by the court your forms will be listed for you to print and serve on the other party(s). If your filing is rejected by the court a reason is listed and you can correct your information and resubmit your filing again, at no additional cost.

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Is my computer ready to print my forms?

To use I-CAN!™ Legal you need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. Adobe Reader is a free program and you can download it and install it in a few minutes.

Click here to download Adobe Reader.

You need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to open your court forms. If you e-file, you will need to open your forms to review your information and print your forms for your records. It is your responsibility to make sure that your information is correct and complete.

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How do I print my E-Filed forms?

To print your E-Filed forms, log back into I-CAN!™ Legal.

Detailed step by step instructions are below:

  1. Click on the link at the top of this page "Already have an I-CAN!™ password? Login Here"
  2. Enter your username and password and click "Next".
  3. A list of your cases is displayed, the column "Status" will display your filing status.
  4. The column "Available Actions" will allow you to see what action to take next. Click on "Print E-Filed Forms" to continue.
  5. A list of all your forms, and the instructions of what to do next displays.
  6. Print all these forms as necessary as instructed by the filing instructions.
  7. If you have questions on how to have you case properly served, call the free small claims advisor at 714-571-5277.

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How do I find out where and when my court hearing is?

When you use I-CAN! to e-file, you will log in and print the list of forms you get back from the court.
If you filed a suit, the information is on the form SC-100 you printed that was accepted by the court, If you filed a counter-suit, the information is on the form SC-120 you printed that was accepted by the court.
The information is located on the first page of the form, in the box about a third of the way down the page.

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The court date or case information doesn't print but everything else does.

There are two issues that may be causing this.
  1. You can view the information on your screen but when you print it does not appear on the printed forms, or
  2. The information does not appear on the screen or on the printed forms
If the information appears on the forms when you view them on the screen but not when they are printed then you will need to change a setting in Adobe Reader.
The steps are:
  1. Click the Print icon to print your form, it will bring up a dialog box. Picture of the dialog box set before you change it.
  2. Change the setting undeer the words "Comments and Forms" from "Document" to "Document and Stamps". Picture of the dialog box set correctly.
  3. Print your forms.
If you see no information on the screen when you try to open the document, then download and install the latest version of Adobe Reader from here.

Thanks to user Robert S for figuring this out!

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What if my E-Filing is not accepted?

If your filing is rejected by the court a reason is listed on the e-file status page. You can correct your information and resubmit your filing again, at no additional cost. To do this you navigate through the I-CAN!™ Legal software and make the changes the court required.

After you review your forms to verify your changes, click "Next" and a screen will prompt you to resubmit your filing again.

There is no additional charge to resubmit your filing, and there is no limit on the number of times you can resubmit it. While it is not required, you may choose to correct your forms, print them, and file your forms at the court in person if you would prefer.

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How do I resubmit a filing that was rejected?

  1. Log in with your username and password by clicking the link at the top of the page.
  2. Look for your case on this list of cases.
  3. Click on where it says "Rejected" right below "Available actions".
  4. Click "Next" and follow the screens to get back into your case information.
  5. Click the "Print" tab and get to the list of your forms 6. Keep clicking "Next" through the screens until you have resubmitted your case and your status shows "Pending".
There is no additional charge to resubmit your filing, and there is no limit on the number of times you can resubmit it.

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How do I find out if my Court Certified mailing was delivered?

The court doesn't notify the plaintiff if the certified mail comes back signed. If the plaintiff's wishes to know if the certified mail was signed by the defendant or not, they have to look online or call the clerk's office.

The certified mail gets sent to the Defendant through the United States Postal Service. The envelope will state that the mailing is being sent by the court, so if the Plaintiff thinks the Defendant might try to dodge service they might want to reconsider using certified mail.

The Plaintiff does not get the certified mail slip. The certified mail slip comes back to the court and the judge decides during the hearing if the certified mail was successful or not. If the plaintiff wishes to view the certified mail slip they can request a copy at the clerk's office.

To get your status use this link Click here . This will open in a new window.

What you should be looking for is the entry showing it was sent by the court, and an entry showing it was received by the court. If both occurred service is done.

If there is no received entry it may be that the served person refused delivery, or it might be that the court has not yet input the information. The rule of thumb is to wait 20 business days from the filing date before you call the clerk.

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How do I submit my completed proof of service (Form SC-104)?

These cannot be efiled at this time.

- You must file your Proof of Service (SC-104) at the Court at least 5 days prior to your trial date. File it at the courthouse where your case is filed. You do NOT need to do this when you have the court send a Certified Mail Statement (Form L-1019)

IN PERSON

- You can file the Proof of Service in person at the Court Clerk’s window. It is a good idea to bring an extra copy and have it stamped for your own records. Anyone can file the form; it does not need to be a party or the person who served.

BY MAIL

- You can mail the Proof of Service to the court as long as you have sufficient time to do so. Mail the original and a copy along with a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Clerk. The Clerk will mail back the copy for your records.

BY SHERIFF

- If the Sheriff is serving for you, they may file the Proof of Service with the Court. You should ask when you deliver copies to the Sheriff

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Small Claims Forms

Sue or Counter-sue in Small Claims Court

The amount that you can sue for depends on:

You are: You can sue for up to:
An Individual or Sole Proprietor $10,000.00
A Corporation or Business $5,000.00

Exceptions to these amounts are:
You are: The defendant is a guarantor who: You can sue for up to:
An Individual or Sole Proprietor Charged a fee for surety services $6,500.00
An Individual or Sole Proprietor Did not charge a fee for surety services $2,500.00
A Corporation or Business Charged a fee for surety services $4,000.00

If a small claim has been filed against you, you can counter-sue for the same amount. If you cannot afford to pay your filing fees, I-CAN! will help you fill out and submit a Fee Waiver request to the court.

If I-CAN!™ supports e-filing for your court and the type of case you have, you may choose to E-File your small claim. Currently I-CAN!™ supports e-filing for Small Claims at the courts in Orange County.

Ask to Postpone your Small Claims hearing date

If you have a hearing date for your Small Claims case, you can ask the court to postpone your hearing to a later date. You have to have a good reason to postpone the hearing date. Usually you have to ask at least 10 days before the hearing. If you have a good reason why you are asking less than 10 days before the hearing, you can ask to postpone the hearing with less time.

If you cannot afford to pay your filing fees, I-CAN!™ will help you fill out and submit a Fee Waiver request to the court.

Prepare Small Claims after-hearing forms
After you have had a Small Claims hearing, I-CAN!™ will help you to file after-hearings forms. You can request to be allowed to collect your money if you won your case. You can also ask the judge to correct your judgment if there was a clerical error, cancel your judgment if the court applied the wrong law to your case, or appeal your judgment if you want to have your case heard again as if it was a new case.

I-CAN!™ will print all of the forms that are necessary for your individual situation out of the following forms:

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