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7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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11 ERICKA PAEZ fka ERICKA KORB, Case No. 19-cv-1836-BAS-AHG 12 Plaintiff, ORDER PROVISIONALLY DENYING PLAINTIFF’S 13 v. APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 14 THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, governmental entity, 15 [ECF No. 2] Defendant. 16 17 On September 24, 2019, Plaintiff Ericka Paez, proceeding pro se, commenced this 18 action against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act. (ECF No. 1.) The 19 same day, Plaintiff also filed an application seeking leave to proceed without prepaying 20 fees or costs, also known as proceeding in forma pauperis (“IFP”). (ECF No. 2.) For the 21 reasons discussed below, the Court DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiff’s 22 application to proceed IFP. 23 Under

, an indigent litigant who is unable to pay the fees required 24 to commence a legal action may petition a court to proceed without making such 25 prepayment. The determination of indigency falls within the district court’s discretion. 26 Cal. Men’s Colony v. Rowland,

(9th Cir. 1991), rev’d on other grounds, 27

(1993) (holding that “Section 1915 typically requires the reviewing court to 28 exercise its sound discretion in determining whether the affiant has satisfied the statute’s 1 requirement of indigency.”). 2 It is well-settled that a party need not be completely destitute to proceed in forma 3 pauperis. Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.,

(1948). To 4 satisfy the requirements of

(a), “an affidavit [of poverty] is sufficient 5 which states that one cannot because of his poverty pay or give security for costs . . . and 6 still be able to provide himself and dependents with the necessities of life.”

at 339 7 (internal quotations omitted). At the same time, however, “the same even-handed care 8 must be employed to assure that federal funds are not squandered to underwrite, at public 9 expense, . . . the remonstrances of a suitor who is financially able, in whole or in material 10 part, to pull his own oar.” Temple v. Ellerthorpe,

(D.R.I. 1984). 11 District courts, therefore, tend to reject IFP applications where the applicant can pay 12 the filing fee with acceptable sacrifice to other expenses. See, e.g., Stehouwer v. 13 Hennessey,

(N.D. Cal. 1994), vacated in part on other grounds, 14 Olivares v. Marshall,

(9th Cir. 1995) (finding that a district court did not abuse 15 its discretion in requiring a partial fee payment from a prisoner who had a $14.61 monthly 16 salary and who received $110 per month from family). Moreover, “[i]n forma pauperis 17 status may be acquired and lost during the course of litigation.” Wilson v. Dir. of Div. of 18 Adult Insts.,

, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 9, 2009) (citing Stehouwer,

Supp. at 321); see also Allen v. Kelly,

, at *2 (N.D. Cal. June 29, 1995) 20 (holding that a plaintiff who was initially permitted to proceed in forma pauperis should 21 be required to pay his $120 filing fee out of a $900 settlement). In addition, the facts as to 22 the affiant’s poverty must be stated “with some particularity, definiteness, and certainty.” 23 United States v. McQuade,

(9th Cir. 1981) (quoting Jefferson v. United 24 States,

(9th Cir. 1960)). 25 Having read and considered Plaintiff’s application, the Court finds that Plaintiff fails 26 to meet the requirements for IFP status under

. Most notably, considering 27 the total monthly income and cash-on-hand figures provided by Plaintiff, it appears that 28 Plaintiff has a net monthly income of $1,400 even after accounting for all average monthly 1 ||expenses enumerated in the application. Further, Plaintiff attests that she expects her 2 ||monthly income of $2,583 to more than double next month to $6,000. (ECF No. 2 at 1.) 3 also attests that, in addition to a daughter and son, she supports a stepson for whom 4 has 50% custody but does not indicate whether she receives or makes any child support 5 ||payments. (/d. at 1, 3, 4.) 6 Plaintiff notes that she expects major changes to her financial situation over the next 7 || 12 months but failed to explain her reasons on an attached sheet as instructed. (d. at 5.) 8 || Plaintiff also does not specify the monthly expense of the “significant uninsured medical 9 ||expenses” incurred over the past two years and does not indicate whether the $25,000 in 10 |/credit card debt requires payments over-and-above the $1,200 monthly installment 11 payment indicated on her application. (/d. at 4-5.) As such, the Court cannot evaluate 12 ||how these additional expenses would factor into the analysis of her ability to prepay the 13 ||$400 filing fee. See McQuade,

. 14 The Court therefore finds, on the facts presented, that Plaintiff has the means to 15 ||prepay the required filing fee even without acceptable sacrifices to other expenses. 16 || Plaintiff’ s IFP application does not indicate that requiring Plaintiff to pay the required $400 17 ||fee would impair her ability to obtain the necessities of life. See Adkins,

. 18 || Therefore, the Court finds that Plaintiff does not satisfy the requirements to proceed IFP. 19 In light of the foregoing, the Court DENIES Plaintiff's application to proceed IFP 20 || WITHOUT PREJUDICE. (ECF No. 2.) To proceed IFP, Plaintiff must refile the IFP 21 || application and include more specific information regarding the aforementioned sources of 22 ||income and monthly expenses. 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 , fl ) J 25 || DATED: September 27, 2019 ( yild A A (Haghan 6 26 United States District Judge 27 28