631.9  Jurisdiction determined.
  At the time set for the hearing of a small claim, the court first shall determine that proper notice as provided in section 631.5, subsection 4, has been given a party before proceeding further as to that party, unless the party has appeared or is an existing party, and also shall determine that the action is properly brought as a small claim.
[C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §631.9]