538. A plaintiff may voluntarily reduce the amount claimed to $15,000 or less, but cannot divide a claim exceeding that amount into two or more claims not exceeding that amount, under pain of dismissal of the application.
However, a plaintiff is not deemed to have divided a claim if it arises from a credit contract providing for repayment by instalments or from a contract involving the sequential performance of obligations, such as a lease, an employment contract, a disability insurance contract or other similar contract, and if the amount claimed in the application does not exceed $15,000.