Small Claims Procedure

The legislation on the procedure for small claims has entered into force on 1 September 2026. The new simplified procedure, which is followed in district courts, aims to promote access to justice. The threshold for taking a case to court will be lowered, as the law has a clear ceiling on how much the loser of the case will have to compensate the winner’s legal costs. It is also a simpler way of dealing with a case than a full-scale trial.

In the proceedings, the losing party may be ordered to reimburse the legal costs of the opposing party in the district court only up to a maximum of EUR 500 or, if a main hearing has been held, up to a maximum of EUR 1,000. The losing party may also be ordered to pay the opposing party’s court fee of EUR 310 and, exceptionally, special costs incurred by the opposing party.

The procedure may deal with disputed matters based on the tenancy of a residential apartment, which include:

• eviction,
• a claim for rent,
• other residential lease matters, such as unpaid rent or an unreturned security,
• compensation for damages on the basis of a residential lease,
• rent reduction, including temporary reductions,
• increase in rent,
• deferral of the removal date,
• termination of the lease and/or compensation,
• other termination of the lease agreement and/or compensation, or
• rescission of the lease agreement and/or compensation.

Cases in which the monetary claim does not exceed EUR 10,000 may be dealt with in the procedure. Matters in which no monetary claim is presented, such as matters concerning eviction, may also be dealt with in the procedure. In addition, it is required that the matter is not extensive or difficult.

Initiation of a case concerning residential leases in the small claims procedure

You can initiate a matter that can be dealt with in the small claims procedure in the OmaTuomioistuin e-service if you are dealing with your own case.

It is advisable to use the OmaTuomioistuin e-service, because it allows you to find the documents you have sent to the district court at later stages of the case and the documents sent to you by the district court. In addition, it is easy to check the important deadlines related to your case in the online service, for example.

When you start initiating Petitionary and civil matters in the OmaTuomioistuin e-service and select the matter to be initiated from the list of case titles in the e-service, at the same time you can state that you consider the matter suitable for processing in the small claims procedure.

The district court will check the summons application to see if the conditions for the procedure are met.

The OmaTuomioistuin e-service is currently available if you are acting on your own behalf. For example, acting on behalf of a company or a child and acting as an attorney will not be added to the e-service until later.

If you want to act on behalf of someone else, you can use the services by email, Suomi.fi Messages or by post. These means of communication are also available if you are acting on your own behalf, but you do not have the opportunity to use strong identification, for example.

Uncontested payment demand cases

The new procedure does not bring any changes to the procedural provisions concerning undisputed matters concerning the tenancy relationship, such as:

• a claim for rent,
• eviction,
• compensation for damages on the basis of a lease,
• termination of the lease and/or compensation,
• other termination of the lease agreement and/or compensation, or
• rescission of the lease agreement and/or compensation.

Uncontested payment demand cases can still be initiated in the separate e-service for these matters.