Hillsborough County small-claims Statement of Claim checklist

Start with the free official form

The Hillsborough County Clerk currently publishes a two-page “Statement of Claim” revised January 6, 2025. The form states that it is for damages not exceeding $8,000, excluding costs and interest. Read both pages and check the clerk’s forms page for a later revision before preparing anything.

Source check: official Hillsborough County Clerk form revised 01/06/2025; page reviewed September 24, 2026.

1. Identify the parties and defendant contact information

The first page has lines for up to two plaintiffs and two defendants, followed by the defendant’s street address, city, state, ZIP code, and phone number. It also displays case-number and division blanks.

• Exact plaintiff name or names you independently intend to use
• Exact defendant name or names you independently intend to use
• Defendant address and available phone information
• Any court-assigned case number or division, if applicable

The clerk’s county-civil FAQ says its staff cannot advise a person which party should be sued because that may be legal advice. Sun State likewise does not identify a proper party, verify a legal name or address, decide venue, or assign a court division.

2. Read all seven printed claim categories

The form directs the filer to check one printed category. The choices are Auto Accident, Goods sold by Plaintiff, Work done and materials furnished, Money lent to defendant, Promissory Note, Account Stated, and Other claim.

Some categories display additional blanks. The auto-accident paragraph requests a date, location, Florida county, vehicle operator, and vehicle owner. The money-lent and promissory-note paragraphs request dates. The Other category provides a short description line.

3. Prepare your own factual explanation

The form states that its explanation section must be completed and asks what happened, including dates, times, and place. It also says additional pages may be attached if needed. Organize the facts and documents you independently decide to use before entering a description.

Sun State does not write, improve, shorten, or evaluate claim facts. It also cannot determine which facts are legally relevant, whether more pages are needed, or whether the available evidence supports the claim.

4. Review the written-document statement

Page two begins with a statement that a copy of any written document forming the basis of the claim is attached. The promissory-note and account-stated categories also refer to an attached copy. Review those exact statements and decide what is truthful for your filing.

Sun State does not decide whether a document forms the basis of a claim, select attachments, confirm that an attachment is complete, or attach documents to a court filing.

5. Separate principal, costs, interest, and total

The demand area has separate blanks for the principal sum, known costs such as summons or service costs, interest, and a total. Gather the amounts you intend to enter and independently confirm any calculations or legal entitlement before using them.

Sun State can place customer-supplied numbers into the displayed blanks. It does not calculate recoverable damages, court costs, service charges, interest, attorney’s fees, or the legal amount of a claim.

6. Keep signing and oath fields for manual completion

Page two includes plaintiff address and contact lines, a plaintiff signature line, a printed-name line, a title line, and an oath or affirmation area for a deputy clerk or notary. The Sun State filler leaves the case number, division, signature, title, oath, identification, deputy-clerk, and notary entries blank for manual completion.

Read the form and confirm current signing or notarization procedures with the clerk. Sun State does not decide who must sign, provide a signature, administer an oath, notarize, or determine which identification method applies.

7. Confirm the current filing, service, and pretrial process

The clerk’s county-civil page describes small-claims filing, issuance and service of a summons, and the pretrial process. Its pro-se page discusses downloadable form packets, electronic or in-person filing, and a division lookup tool. Procedures and fees can change, so use those current clerk resources rather than treating this checklist as filing instructions.

Optional form filler for the document you selected

The clerk’s blank PDF is free. If you have independently selected this Hillsborough County Statement of Claim, Sun State’s optional $29 self-service tool transfers your entries into its configured revision 01/06/2025 PDF. It does not choose the form, defendant, category, wording, attachments, amounts, court division, filing method, or service method, and it does not sign, notarize, file, or serve the result.

Official information and independent help