Small Claims for Tenants

Most New Jersey security deposit cases can go to the Small Claims Section of the Special Civil Part when the amount in dispute is $5,000 or less.

Doubling counts toward that limit. If your landlord kept more than $2,500, a doubled claim goes over $5,000. If you file in Small Claims anyway, you give up anything above the limit.

Choosing where to file means weighing what you could recover against what you'd give up. Your landlord can also raise defenses, like unpaid rent or damage. It pays to get that choice right before you file.

The full legal analysis

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The Special Civil Part hears, in relevant part: (1) "[c]ivil actions . . . seeking legal relief when the amount in controversy does not exceed $20,000;" (2) "[s]mall claims actions," generally defined as "all actions in contract and tort . . . and actions between a landlord and tenant for rent, return of all or part of a security deposit, or money damages, when the amount in dispute, including any applicable penalties, does not exceed, exclusive of costs, the sum of $5,000"; and (3) "[s]ummary landlord/tenant actions." R. 6:1-2(a).

Within the Special Civil Part, the Small Claims Section hears "actions between a landlord and tenant for rent, return of all or part of a security deposit, or money damages, when the amount in dispute, including any applicable penalties, does not exceed, exclusive of costs, the sum of $5,000." R. 6:1-2(a)(2); accord N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.4. Because doubled damages count toward this limit, a wrongfully withheld amount greater than $2,500 will exceed it once doubled.

A tenant whose claim exceeds the applicable limit may nonetheless proceed in the Special Civil Part or its Small Claims Section. However, "[w]here the amount recoverable on a claim exceeds the monetary limit of the Special Civil Part or the Small Claims Section, the party asserting the claim shall not recover a sum exceeding the limit plus costs and on the entry of judgment shall be deemed to have waived the excess over the applicable limit." R. 6:1-2(c). See also Reilly, 406 N.J. Super. at 74 n.2 (noting that the plaintiffs "submitted the dispute to the limited jurisdiction of the Small Claims Division by waiving any possible excess recovery").

In a Small Claims action, the court "may provide such ancillary equitable relief as may be necessary to effect a complete remedy." R. 6:1-2(a)(2). Furthermore, the court has "inherent and express authority . . . to recognize defenses to the claim . . . and in appropriate cases to fashion a counterclaim." Reilly, 406 N.J. Super. at 85 (quoting MD Assocs. v. Alvarado, 302 N.J. Super. 583, 587 (App. Div. 1997)).