Rule 15.030.Consumer Debt Collection—small Claims
Current through August 1, 2026 · Last verified September 12, 2026
Full Text of Rule 15.030
Plain-English Summary
Small claims practice is largely walled off from the civil chapters of these rules. This rule opens a door in that wall for a single subject: consumer debt. A collector cannot shed the disclosure requirements by filing the same claim on the small claims side of the courthouse.
The test runs through the definitions in the civil rule. If a small claims action qualifies as a debt buyer collection action under UTCR 5.180(2)(a), then the requirements set out in UTCR 5.180(2) apply in full. That is the package: the required title language, the statement pointing the defendant to the judicial department's website for information about debt collection cases, the mandated disclosure statement completed, attached, and incorporated by reference, the notice-and-cure consequence when the disclosure is missing, and the declaration that accompanies a motion for default judgment.
If the action is a consumer debt collection action that is not a debt buyer case, meaning it falls under UTCR 5.180(3)(a), a narrower requirement attaches. Only UTCR 5.180(3)(b) applies, and that provision governs what the initiating pleading must contain.
The practical step is to read UTCR 5.180 before filing a collection case in small claims. These requirements attach to the initiating pleading, which means they have to be right at filing rather than fixed at the hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the consumer debt collection rules apply to small claims cases?
Yes. This rule brings them in. A small claims action that qualifies under the civil consumer debt rule carries the corresponding requirements, even though most of the civil chapters do not otherwise reach small claims.
What makes a small claims case a debt buyer collection action?
Whether it qualifies under UTCR 5.180(2)(a), the definition in the civil rule. If it does, the requirements set out in UTCR 5.180(2) apply to the small claims filing.
What if I am collecting a consumer debt but I am not a debt buyer?
Then the question is whether the action qualifies under UTCR 5.180(3)(a). If it does, the requirement in UTCR 5.180(3)(b) applies, which is narrower than the debt buyer package.
Does using the standard small claims form satisfy these requirements?
Not by itself. The rule does not excuse a small claims filer from what the civil consumer debt rule requires in the initiating pleading, so the required title language and, in a debt buyer case, the disclosure statement still have to be there.
Why does a small claims rule point to a rule in another chapter?
Because the consumer debt requirements live in the civil chapter and this chapter governs small claims. Rather than repeat them, the rule adopts them by reference, which keeps one set of requirements for both sides of the courthouse and one place to amend them.