You're fuming over the work done by an inept home contractor. To get satisfaction, you sue in small claims court.

Small claims court -- the battleground for minor disputes in District Court -- is where you can present your own case without hiring a lawyer.

A new state law that takes effect Oct. 1 raises the amount that can be recovered through a small claims complaint from $2,500 to $5,000.

That means more cases can be considered small claims, said Thomas Gordon, an attorney for HALT, a Washington, D.C., legal reform group that lobbied the General Assembly to raise the limit.

"Small claims courts are the only courts where people can settle everyday disputes without an attorney," Gordon said. "We are pleased that Maryland will now allow people to use this important venue to resolve disputes over matters with greater value than damaged dry cleaning."

Small claims court is often referred to as the dry cleaning court because the threshold of $2,500 often means that only very minor disputes, such as damaged dry cleaning, are adjudicated there, Gordon said.

Harry Storm, a Bethesda lawyer and immediate past president of the Montgomery County Bar Association, said raising the threshold "is a good thing" for people trying to recover small amounts of money.

"It allows litigants to handle their own case without the expenses associated with it. And the proceedings are relatively simpler," Storm said.

"It is a lot like 'Judge Judy' on television," Gordon added. "The court is very informal, and the rules of evidence and procedure are relaxed."

Small claims filings are placed on a special docket; if the claims exceed the ceiling or if a counterclaim is filed, the case is transferred to the regular docket. Raising the limit made sense because the ceiling had not been raised to keep up with inflation, said Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville, who co-sponsored the Senate bill raising the limit introduced by Sen. Janet Greenip (R-Dist. 33) of Crofton.

The ceiling was last raised in 1987 from $1,000 to $2,500. "When someone has a consumer complaint and they go to court, they often end up with a net loss," Forehand said. "In small claims court, they can have the problem resolved without great legal expense.

"It's good for individuals, it's good for small businesses, it's good for the judicial system," said Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown, also a co-sponsor.

Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) signed the bill into law on April 22. Similar bills had passed in the 2001 and 2002 legislative sessions but had been vetoed because of concerns expressed by the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association, Gordon said.

The association's executive director, Robert Lembo, did not return a call seeking comment.