Las Vegas Justice Court /
Obtaining a Small Claims Default Judgment /
Instructions and Sample Forms /
Virginia Allan /
3/16/2015 /

INSTRUCTIONSFOROBTAININGA

SMALL CLAIMS DEFAULTJUDGMENT

  1. Once the Complaint is electronically filed (E-Filed) with the Court and service has been made on the Defendant for the three required documents as listed on the Complaint form, E-File the Proof of Service for each Defendant served. [E-File Code for Proof of Service = CVPSER; for Affidavit of Service = CVAOS]
  1. If you have served the Defendant and 20 calendar days, not counting the day of service, have passed since the date of service, and the Defendant has not filed an Answer or other responsive pleading (i.e. Motion to Dismiss case) to your Complaint, complete and E-File with the Court a Small Claims Default. If the 20th day falls on a weekend or holiday, you must wait until the next full business day has passed to e-file the Small Claims Default.
  1. If you have filed a Complaint againstmultiple parties, the Small Claims Default and Default Judgmentmay be requested only for those Defendants who have been served and who have not filed an Answer within the time allowed.
  1. Prepare and E-File a Small Claims Default (LVJCVL Form-167), to be signed by the Deputy Clerk. The caption section, case number and assigned department on the Default form must match the Complaint. In the body of the form, list the name of the Defaulting party(s) and the date(s) they were served. Complete signature areas as the submitting party. The Clerk will add their signature and date to the form when they accept the document. [E File Code = CVDFLT]
  1. Once the Clerk’s Default has been signed by the Clerk and filed on the case, prepare and E-File a Motion and Declaration for Judgment by Default (LVJCVL Form-125), including a Memorandum of Costs and Disbursement, (LVJCVL Form-8), that must be attached as page 2 to comply with Local Rules of Practice for the Las Vegas Justice Court, Rule 33. The case caption, case number, and assigned department must match the Complaint. Amounts listed on the Motion and Memorandum of Costs must correspond to documents already filed on the case. On the Memorandum of Costs the line item titled “Filing” represents only the fees paid to the Court not including any e-filing convenience fees. Out of pocket expenses to have the party(s) served with the Small Claims Complaint should be listed under the line item titled “Service of Process.” Any incidental costs (i.e. E-filing fees and the cost of mailing the certified demand letter) should be detailed on the last line (blank line) and summarized on the line total. The total costs listed on the page #2, Memorandum of Costs, must match line #5 on the page #1, Motion. [E File Code = SCDEFJ]
  1. Ifthe Plaintiff hasdocumentationasevidenceoftheamountclaimed that they wish to have included in the file and will become public record,the items may be filed as an Affidavit in Support of Default Judgment and filed afterthe Motion and Declaration for Judgment by Default has been E-filed with the Las Vegas Justice Court Clerk's Office. This filing is not required for Small Claims cases.
  1. Once all of the e-filed documents have been accepted, the Plaintiff must prepare the Default Judgment(LVJCVL Form-129) and deliver it via US Mail or hand-deliver it to the Justice Court Clerk’s Office front counter Window Number 1(2nd Floor of the Regional Justice Center; 200 Lewis Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89101 or PO Box 552511, Las Vegas, NV 89155-2511). The Default Judgment form may not contain any manual alterations or white out. The Clerk’s Office will submit the Default Judgment for judicial review and signing after comparing the Default Judgment to the documents already filed on the case. Incomplete or inaccurate Default Judgments will be returned to the submitting party.

All of the required documents must be filed in the correct chronologic order to obtain Default Judgment. If any of the items discussed above have not been filed on the case, the submission will be considered a partial default package and will be noted as incomplete. If all of the required items, as discussed above, are not filed, a pleading may be rejected and/or returned to the Submitting Party for completion. If this happens the document or pleading will be returned with a note that previous documents are required for a Default Judgment.

LVJCVL Form-172 Revised 5/14

STEP #1: E-File Proof of Service for Each Defendant

Form #118 – E-File Code: CVPSER – Proof of Service

STEP #2: E-File Small Claims Default

LVJCVL Form 167: E-File Code: CVDFLT - Default

Two Defendants on the case; both served on the same date:

Example for “Body” of form when the two defendants have been served on different dates:

Example for the “Body” of form when only one of defendants was served and Plaintiff is only seeking Judgment as to the served defendant:

If the Plaintiff filed an “AMENDED Small Claims Complaint” the Small Claims Default form must be manually updated and must name the parties in the Caption that are on the Amended Small Claims Complaint form (not the original complaint form). If multiple Amended Small Claims Complaints have been filed, the most recent Amended Complaint is the current VALID complaint on the case and it is what must have been served with the Answer and Instruction forms to the Defendants.

Editing example when a “Second Amended Small Claims Complaint” was filed on the case:

Step #3: E-File Motion and Declaration for Judgment by Default with Memorandum of Costs and Disbursements as page #2

LVJCVL Form-125 & LVJCVL Form-8: E-File as: SCDEFJ – Small Claims Motion for Default Judgment

Page #1: Motion and Declaration for Judgment by Default

Page #2: Memorandum of Costs and Disbursements

Step #4: Not Required for Small Claims. Sample forms are not provided by the Court.

Step #5: Prepare and Deliver to Court: Default Judgment

LVJCVL Form-129: Mail or Deliver to Clerk’s Office