1. Informality. The hearing shall be to the court, shall be simple and informal, and shall
be conducted by the court itself, without regard to technicalities of procedure.
2. Evidence. The court shall swear the parties and their witnesses, and examine them
in such a way as to bring out the truth. The parties may participate, either personally or\n\nTue Dec 09 21:58:51 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 631 (28, 0)
§631.11, SMALL CLAIMS 6\n\nby attorney. The court may continue the hearing from time to time and may amend new or
amended pleadings, if justice requires.
3. Record. Upon the trial, the judicial magistrate shall make detailed minutes of
the testimony of each witness and append the exhibits or copies thereof to the record.
The proceedings upon trial shall not be reported by a certified court reporter, unless the
party provides the reporter at such party’s expense. If the proceedings are not reported
by a certified court reporter, the magistrate shall cause the proceedings upon trial to be
recorded electronically, and both parties shall be notified in advance of that recording. If the
proceedings have been recorded electronically, the recording shall be retained under the
jurisdiction of the magistrate unless appealed, and upon appeal shall be transcribed only by
a person designated by the court under the supervision of the magistrate.
4. Judgment. Judgment shall be rendered, based upon applicable law and upon a
preponderance of the evidence.
5. Destruction of recordings. Unless an appeal is taken, an electronic recording of
a proceeding in small claims shall be retained until the time for appeal has expired as
specified in section 631.13. Thereafter, the magistrate may direct that the recording tape or
other device be erased and used for subsequent recordings. If the proceeding is appealed,
the recording may be erased following entry of judgment by the district judge hearing the
appeal.
[C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §631.11]
2009 Acts, ch 75, §1
\n
Notes of Decisions
Iowa Nat'l Mut. Ins. Co. v. Mitchell, 305 N.W.2d 724 (Iowa 1981).
· cites it 21× “The district judge ruled section 631.11 did not permit a jury trial, and found such a denial was unconstitutional as alleged.”
GE Money Bank v. Morales, 773 N.W.2d 533 (Iowa 2009).
· cites it 9× “” Iowa Code § 631.11 (4). Y. Admissibility of the Faxed Billing Statements under the Iowa Rules of Evidence.”
Elyse De Stefano v. Apts. Downtown, Inc., 879 N.W.2d 155 (Iowa 2016).
· cites it 4× “1124, § 70 (codified at Iowa Code § 631.11 (1973)). Under the majority’s approach, some small claims defendants may be subject to substantial judgments—but without the procedural protections afforded in district court.”
Vill. Supply Co., Inc. v. Iowa Fund, Inc., 312 N.W.2d 551 (Iowa 1981).
· cites it 2× “Small claims cases are governed by special statutes and rules. § 631.2, The Code. Among them is the requirement that the trial “be simple and informal, .”
Conkey v. Hoak Motors, Inc., 637 N.W.2d 170 (Iowa 2001).
· cites it 3× “He not only challenges the informality of the court’s action; he claims that if he had known Stehlik was unauthorized to appear as an attorney, he would have called him as a witness regarding GMAC’s disposition of his property. Several code sections and court rules bear on our…”
Midwest Recovery Servs. v. Cooper, 465 N.W.2d 855 (Iowa 1991).
· cites it 4× “” Iowa Code § 631.11 (1). While a court reporter is not required, “detailed minutes” of testimony are made by the court at the time of the hearing.”
Graeve v. Cherny, 580 N.W.2d 800 (Iowa 1998).
· cites it 4× “Iowa Code section 631.11(1) (1997), for example, provides that “[t]he hearing shall be to the court, shall be simple and informal, and shall be conducted by the court itself, without regard to technicalities of procedure.”
Jack Moritz Co. Mgmt. v. Walker, 429 N.W.2d 127 (Iowa 1988).
· cites it 4× “” Iowa Code § 631.11 (3) (1985). These minutes should be legible, of course, for the purpose in making them is to provide a record for appellate review.”
D.R. Mobile Home Rentals v. Frost, 545 N.W.2d 302 (Iowa 1996).
· cites it 2× “” Iowa Code § 631.11 (4). Here, the landlord did not present any testimony or other evidence to support the value of its demand for debris removal.”
Hillview Assocs. v. Palmer, 456 N.W.2d 909 (Iowa 1990).
· cites it 4× “Iowa Code § 631.11 (3) (1987). Here there is no showing that the trial court ordered a recording.”
— Iowa Code § 631.11(1) — 8 cases
Iowa Nat'l Mut. Ins. Co. v. Mitchell, 305 N.W.2d 724 (Iowa 1981).
“The district judge ruled section 631.11 did not permit a jury trial, and found such a denial was unconstitutional as alleged.”
Vill. Supply Co., Inc. v. Iowa Fund, Inc., 312 N.W.2d 551 (Iowa 1981).
“Small claims cases are governed by special statutes and rules. § 631.2, The Code. Among them is the requirement that the trial “be simple and informal, .”
GE Money Bank v. Morales, 773 N.W.2d 533 (Iowa 2009).
“” Iowa Code § 631.11 (4). Y. Admissibility of the Faxed Billing Statements under the Iowa Rules of Evidence.”
— Iowa Code § 631.11(2) — 2 cases
Iowa Nat'l Mut. Ins. Co. v. Mitchell, 305 N.W.2d 724 (Iowa 1981).
“The district judge ruled section 631.11 did not permit a jury trial, and found such a denial was unconstitutional as alleged.”
Conkey v. Hoak Motors, Inc., 637 N.W.2d 170 (Iowa 2001).
“He not only challenges the informality of the court’s action; he claims that if he had known Stehlik was unauthorized to appear as an attorney, he would have called him as a witness regarding GMAC’s disposition of his property. Several code sections and court rules bear on our…”
— Iowa Code § 631.11(3) — 1 case
— Iowa Code § 631.11(4) — 4 cases
Graeve v. Cherny, 580 N.W.2d 800 (Iowa 1998).
“Iowa Code section 631.11(1) (1997), for example, provides that “[t]he hearing shall be to the court, shall be simple and informal, and shall be conducted by the court itself, without regard to technicalities of procedure.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.