Commencement of actions; contents of claim

(1) An action in the small claims department shall be commenced by the plaintiff’s filing with the clerk of the court a claim in the form prescribed by the court. (2) The claim shall: (a) Contain the name and address of the plaintiff and of the defendant, followed by a plain and simple statement of the claim, including the amount and the date the claim allegedly accrued; (b) State that the plaintiff made a good faith effort to collect the claim from the defendant before filing the claim with the clerk; and (c) Include an affidavit attesting to the accuracy of the statements described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection or a declaration under penalty of perjury in the form required by ORCP 1 E. (3) Except in actions arising under ORS chapter 90, the plaintiff must include in a claim all amounts claimed from the defendant arising out of a single transaction or occurrence. Any plaintiff alleging damages on a transaction requiring installment payments need only claim the installment payments due and owing as of the date of filing of the claim, and need not accelerate the remaining payments. The plaintiff may include in a claim all amounts claimed from a defendant on more than one transaction or occurrence if the total amount of the claim does not exceed $10,000. (4) Notwithstanding subsection (3) of this section, a plaintiff bringing an action on assigned claims: (a) Need bring an action only on those claims that have been assigned as of the date the action is filed; and (b) May bring separate actions for each person assigning claims to the plaintiff.