{
  "locale": "en",
  "access": {
    "cost": "free",
    "signupRequired": false,
    "loginRequired": false,
    "readCountsAreAnonymous": true,
    "readingHistoryAssociatedWithReader": false,
    "note": "Everything here is free to read. There is no account, no signup, and no login. Verifiant counts anonymous reads of each lesson; no reading history is associated with you."
  },
  "notice": "Verifiant is not the State of Arizona, the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, or a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. It describes public process and public record, and links to the official sources so you can read them yourself.",
  "lawyerNotice": "This page describes public process. It is not legal advice, and it does not say how any situation will come out. For decisions about your own situation, a licensed Arizona attorney is the right reader.",
  "question": {
    "slug": "how-much-is-arizona-small-claims",
    "locale": "en",
    "title": "How Much Can I Sue For in Arizona's Small Claims Court?",
    "answer": "Five thousand dollars is Arizona's small claims ceiling, heard without lawyers and without appeal, and the justice courts' ordinary civil bench above it goes to ten thousand. For contractor losses sized to a deposit, this is the courtroom built for you.",
    "lawyerFlag": true,
    "publicationStatus": "published",
    "updatedOn": "2026-08-11",
    "path": "/learn/questions/how-much-is-arizona-small-claims",
    "sections": [
      {
        "heading": "What the Small Claims Bench Is",
        "body": "A justice-court division where the parties appear without lawyers, the rules are simplified, and the decision is final: no appeal in either direction. Filing is inexpensive, and the forms are public.",
        "factSlugs": [
          "small-claims-limit-five-thousand"
        ]
      },
      {
        "heading": "Before You File, Read the Ladder",
        "body": "For losses on licensed work, the Registrar's complaint and the Recovery Fund may reach money a courtroom cannot collect, and judgment collection is its own work. The court is one rung; the deposit question page walks all of them in order.",
        "factSlugs": [
          "recovery-fund-two-routes"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "officialLinks": [
      {
        "label": "A.R.S. § 22-503",
        "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/22/00503.htm"
      }
    ],
    "faq": [
      {
        "question": "My loss is seven thousand. Do I give up the difference to fit under the ceiling?",
        "answer": "Some people waive the excess to use the simpler bench; some file in the justice courts' civil division, which goes to ten thousand. That choice is exactly what a licensed Arizona attorney can size for your situation."
      },
      {
        "question": "Will winning actually get me paid?",
        "answer": "A judgment is an order, not a transfer, and collecting on it is its own work. That is one more reason the Recovery Fund's administrative route counts when it applies."
      }
    ]
  },
  "facts": [
    {
      "slug": "small-claims-limit-five-thousand",
      "locale": "en",
      "title": "Arizona's Small Claims Limit",
      "statement": "Five thousand dollars is Arizona's small claims ceiling now, heard without lawyers and without appeal; the justice courts' ordinary civil bench goes to ten thousand. Much of the internet still repeats the old three thousand five hundred figure. The statute moved on.",
      "factType": "public_rule",
      "source": {
        "label": "A.R.S. § 22-503",
        "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/22/00503.htm"
      },
      "authority": 1,
      "authorityName": "primary authority",
      "topic": "The courts",
      "observedOn": "2026-08-11",
      "recheckBy": "2027-02-11",
      "publicationStatus": "published",
      "updatedOn": "2026-08-11",
      "path": "/learn/facts/small-claims-limit-five-thousand"
    },
    {
      "slug": "recovery-fund-two-routes",
      "locale": "en",
      "title": "Two Routes into the Recovery Fund",
      "statement": "There are two roads into the fund, and only one of them runs through a courtroom. A homeowner can pursue an administrative filing inside the Registrar's own process, or take a court judgment and then put the Registrar on notice. Nothing requires suing anyone first.",
      "factType": "official_process",
      "source": {
        "label": "Arizona ROC, the Recovery Fund",
        "url": "https://roc.az.gov/recovery-fund"
      },
      "authority": 2,
      "authorityName": "official interpretation",
      "topic": "Getting money back",
      "observedOn": "2026-08-11",
      "recheckBy": "2026-11-11",
      "publicationStatus": "published",
      "updatedOn": "2026-08-11",
      "path": "/learn/facts/recovery-fund-two-routes"
    }
  ]
}