§ 5533. Other procedure

(a) The plaintiff shall supply to the clerk the following information:

(1) the plaintiff's name, residence address, and telephone number;

(2) defendant's name and place of residence, place of business or employment; and

(3) the nature and amount of the plaintiff's claim, giving dates and other relevant information.

(b) The clerk shall reduce the information required in subsection (a) of this section to writing in concise, nontechnical form in a docket kept for that purpose, and shall also place it on a form which shall be attached to the summons.

(c) The defendant may include with his or her answer a counterclaim stating a claim which arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject matter of the plaintiff's claim and which does not require for its adjudication the presence of third parties of whom the court cannot acquire jurisdiction. The relief requested in the counterclaim may exceed the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court, however the judgment shall not exceed that limit. Failure to assert a counterclaim does not prevent the defendant from bringing a later action for the same claim. The judgment of the small claims court on an asserted counterclaim shall not be conclusive between the parties in a later action nor shall the parties be precluded from litigating any issue of fact or law as a result of the judgment on the counterclaim. However, in any later action on the same claim as was raised in the counterclaim, the amount of any judgment shall be reduced by an amount equal to the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court at the time the counterclaim was first asserted. (Amended 1977, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1983, No. 208 (Adj. Sess.), § 3.)