Cost to sue · North Carolina
What it costs to sue in North Carolina small claims court
Filing a small claims case in North Carolina costs $96 in court fees, plus $9.28 or more to deliver the papers to the person you're suing. You can sue for up to $10,000. Everything below is read from North Carolina's own fee schedules and statutes, each one linked.
Informational only — this is not legal advice, and it doesn't predict how a case will turn out. Court fees change without much notice; confirm the exact figure with your court clerk before you file. Last reviewed: September 2026.
Does your claim qualify?
An individual can sue for up to $10,000 in North Carolina small claims court. A business or other entity is held to the same limit.
How long you have to file
North Carolina sets a different deadline depending on what the claim is about. Miss it and the court can throw the case out no matter how strong it is.
| Type of claim | Deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Written contract | 3 years | N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-52(1) |
| Oral contract or agreement | 3 years | N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-52(1) |
| Property damage | 3 years | N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-52(4) |
| Personal injury | 3 years | N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-52(16) |
North Carolina runs a flat 3 years across all four categories here — the one exception is a contract signed "under seal," which gets 10 years instead (N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-47); that's a specific document formality, not the default for an ordinary written contract.
What the court charges to file
North Carolina charges one flat filing fee of $96, whatever the claim is worth.
Flat statewide fee regardless of claim amount, plus a $30 service fee per defendant.
Getting the papers to the other side
Filing isn't enough — the person you're suing has to be formally notified, and North Carolina recognizes these methods:
| Method | Cost |
|---|---|
| Sheriff | $30 |
| Certified mail (self-arranged) | $9.28 |
Sheriff. Flat statewide fee, per defendant. N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-311
Certified mail (self-arranged). Plaintiffs can mail the claim by certified mail themselves instead of using the sheriff. Cost shown is USPS's current certified mail + electronic return receipt rate. USPS Notice 123 (Price List)
If you can't afford the fee
North Carolina can waive the filing fee entirely for someone who can't afford it. There's no published income threshold — the court decides case by case.
Automatic qualification. You currently receive SNAP (food and nutrition benefits), Work First (TANF), or SSI, or you're represented by a legal aid organization.
North Carolina's statute sets no income-percentage test at all. Receiving one of the listed benefits (or legal aid representation) gets an automatic yes from the clerk of court; everyone else's request is judged case by case on whether they can "advance the required court costs," with no published income line to check it against.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-110
Bringing a witness to the hearing
Subpoenaing someone to testify in North Carolina costs $5 per day plus $0.73 per mile round trip. The witness claims it afterward rather than being paid up front.
Mileage tracks the state employee travel-reimbursement rate set by the Office of State Budget and Management, currently 72.5¢/mile effective January 1, 2026 — this rate changes independently of the fee statute whenever OSBM adopts a new figure.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-314
If you lose and want to appeal
An appeal in North Carolina costs $54 to file. The case gets heard over again from scratch, as if the first trial never happened.
This isn't a separate "appeal fee" — it's the difference between district court's higher standard court costs ($130 General Court of Justice fee, $16 facilities fee) and the lower magistrate-level costs you already paid ($80 and $12). Either party can appeal for a full new trial in district court, before a judge or a jury.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-305(b1)
Interest on what you're owed
An unpaid North Carolina judgment earns 8% a year from the day it's entered until it's paid.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. §24-1
Garnishing the debtor's wages
North Carolina effectively bars wage garnishment for an ordinary civil judgment like a small claims case.
North Carolina courts read the state's earnings exemption broadly enough that, in practice, an ordinary civil judgment creditor cannot garnish wages at all — the exceptions are taxes, federal student loans, child support, alimony, and (in some counties) unpaid ambulance bills, none of which come out of a small claims judgment.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. §1-362
Levying a bank account
Having an officer levy a bank account in North Carolina starts with about $30 up front, and the officer takes a percentage of whatever is actually collected.
The $30 is the same uniform civil process fee the sheriff charges to serve or execute any civil writ. The 5%/2.5% commission only applies to money the sheriff actually collects and turns over to you — not money the debtor pays you directly.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-311(a)(3)
How long the judgment lasts
A North Carolina judgment stays enforceable for 10 years. Renewing it costs $96.
North Carolina doesn't let you extend the same judgment — you file a brand-new small claims case asking for a new judgment on what's still unpaid, and the law allows exactly one of these (G.S. 1-47). That new judgment then runs its own fresh 10-year lien period, for a 20-year practical maximum, but there's no third bite once you've used it.
Source: N.C. Gen. Stat. §§1-47, 1-234
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page is read from North Carolina's own statute, court fee schedule, or judiciary guidance, and each section links the source it came from. Nothing here is estimated, averaged, or copied from another site's summary. Where a cost genuinely varies by county or isn't published anywhere citable, this page says so rather than showing a number.
This page is a summary — the calculators it links to do the arithmetic for your specific claim amount, dates, and circumstances.
Last reviewed: September 2026