Howard Leon Haynie v. TransUnion LLC

1 WO 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Howard Leon Haynie, No. CV-25-00668-TUC-JCH 10 Plaintiff, ORDER v. TransUnion LLC, 13 Defendant.

15 Pro se Plaintiff Howard Leon Haynie has filed a Complaint alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (Doc. 1). Plaintiff also filed an Application to Proceed In District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (“Application”) (Doc. 2) and a Motion to Allow Electronic Filing by a Party Appearing Without an Attorney (“Motion”) (Doc. 3). The Court will grant the Motion and deny the Application without prejudice.

20 I. Motion to Allow Electronic Filing 21 Plaintiff’s Motion includes a declaration affirming that he is willing and able to comply with the electronic filing requirements. Doc. 3. Accordingly, the Court will grant the Motion. Plaintiff is reminded that pro se litigants must generally follow the same court rules and procedures as represented litigants. See Carter v. Comm’r, 784 F.2d 1006, 1009 (9th Cir. 1986). Plaintiff should review the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of Civil Procedure to avoid impermissible findings.

27 /// /// II. Application to Proceed In District Court Without Prepaying Fees and Costs 2 Plaintiff’s Application asserts he cannot pay the costs associated with this case because he has no income and less than $1,000 in savings and assets. See Doc. 2 at 1–3.

4 Plaintiff also asserts he has two dependents but only $350 in monthly expenses from food, laundry and dry cleaning, and car insurance. See id. at 3–4. Defendant reports he was employed at KOA from September 2024 to April 2025, and Safeway from April 2025 to October 2025, but the Applications lists $0 in monthly income for the past 12 months. Put simply, the numbers are plainly inaccurate.

9 Further, Plaintiff has filed two other suits in this District within the past three months, and his applications in each case are substantively different. For example, Plaintiff’s applications in 25-CV-684-RM and 26-CV-011-JCH list three children as dependents, but the IFP Application here lists only two. Plaintiff’s application in 25-CV- 684-RM, which was filed less than a week after the Application here, did not report the same employment in the last 12 months. Finally, there are unexplainable differences in the listed values of Plaintiff’s assets and monthly expenses between the applications (e.g., on December 4, 2025, Plaintiff’s vehicle was worth $250, but on January 7, 2026, it was worth $100).

18 The disparities within the Application here and between the applications in Plaintiff’s three pending cases indicate the numbers Plaintiff reported here are probably not accurate. Accordingly, the Court declines to use its discretion to grant Plaintiff in forma pauperis status. The Court will give Plaintiff 30 days from the date of this Order to pay the $350.00 filing fee and the $55.00 administrative fee or file a renewed application addressing the issues identified above. Failure to pay these fees or file a renewed application within 30 days will result in the dismissal of this case without further notice.

25 The Court notes for Plaintiff that the declarations made in his last Application were made “under penalty of perjury.” The Court expects Plaintiff will ensure that his declarations are accurate should he file a renewed application.

28 /// Uf. Order 2 Accordingly, 3 IT IS ORDERED granting Plaintiff's Motion to Allow Electronic Filing (Doc. 3).

4|| Plaintiff has already completed the Electronic Case File Registration Form to register as a || user with the Clerk's Office and as a subscriber to PACER (Public Access to Electronic || Records). The Clerk of the Court shall process Plaintiff's request (Doc. 3-2) and notify 7|| Plaintiff if anything further is needed to access electronic filing.

8 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED denying Plaintiffs Application to Proceed In || District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 2). Plaintiff must pay the $350.00 filing fee and the $55.00 administrative fee or file a renewed application within 30 days of || the date of this Order. If Petitioner fails to either pay the fees or file a renewed application || within 30 days, the Clerk of Court must enter a judgment of dismissal of this action without || prejudice and without further notice to Plaintiff and deny any pending unrelated motions as moot.

15 Dated this 10th day of February, 2026.

17 f 4) 18 J 19 / / John C. Hinderaker _/United States District Judge _3-