1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DANIELLE FORD, Case No.: 19-CV-2349 JLS (AGS)

12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING WITHOUT 13 vs. PREJUDICE PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA 14 PAUPERIS 15 MIDLAND FUNDING LLC, 16 Defendant. (ECF No. 2) 17 18 Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Danielle Ford’s Motion to Proceed in Forma 19 Pauperis (“IFP”) (“Mot.,” ECF No. 2). On December 9, 2019, Plaintiff, proceeding pro 20 se, filed an action alleging defamation, negligence, emotional distress, and violations of 21 the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act against Defendant 22 Midland Funding LLC. See generally ECF No. 1 (“Compl.”). 23 All parties instituting any civil action, suit, or proceeding in a district court of the 24 United States, except an application for a writ of habeas corpus, must pay filing and 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 administration fees totaling $400.

(a). A court may, however, in its 2 discretion, allow a plaintiff to proceed without paying these fees if the plaintiff seeks leave 3 to proceed IFP by submitting an affidavit demonstrating the fees impose financial hardship. 4 See

(a); Escobeda v. Applebees,

(2015). Although 5 the statute does not specify the qualifications for proceeding IFP, the plaintiff’s affidavit 6 must allege poverty with some particularity. Escobeda,

. Granting a 7 plaintiff leave to proceed IFP may be proper, for example, when the affidavit demonstrates 8 that paying court costs will result in a plaintiff’s inability to afford the “necessities of life.” 9

The affidavit, however, need not demonstrate that the plaintiff is destitute.

10 In Escobeda, for example, the filing fees constituted forty percent of the plaintiff’s 11 monthly income before factoring in her expenses.

. Taking into account the 12 plaintiff’s rent and debt payments, the filing fee would have required the entirety of two 13 months’ worth of her remaining funds, meaning that the plaintiff “would have to forgo 14 eating during those sixty days, to save up to pay the filing fee.”

Under those 15 circumstances, the Ninth Circuit determined that paying the filing fee would constitute a 16 significant financial hardship to the plaintiff.

Accordingly, the court reversed the 17 magistrate judge’s ruling denying the plaintiff IFP status.

. 18 Here, the Court concludes that Plaintiff has not met her burden of demonstrating that 19 payment of the filing fee would constitute an undue financial hardship. Plaintiff’s affidavit 20 indicates her gross monthly income is $2,700.00, Mot. at 1–2, and her monthly expenses 21 total $2,700.00.

at 4–5. Plaintiff reports no assets, see id. at 3, including no funds in 22 her checking account. See id. at 2. Plaintiff also receives Section 8 housing. See id. at 5. 23 Plaintiff also asserts that she is a single mother of seven children, see id., although she lists 24 only three children in her affidavit. See id. at 3. 25 26 27 1 In addition to the $350 statutory fee, civil litigants must pay an additional administrative fee of $50. See 28

(a) (Judicial Conference Schedule of Fees, District Court Misc. Fee Schedule, § 14 (eff. June 1, 1 Nonetheless, the $400 filing fee is approximately 15% of Plaintiff’s gross monthly 2 ||income before factoring in her expenses, and it appears that Plaintiff still would be able to 3 || afford the necessities of life if required to pay the filing fee. For example, Plaintiff budgets 4 || $600 per month—$7,200 per year—for clothing alone. See id. at 4. The Court understands 5 ||that Plaintiff's clothing budget may not be entirely discretionary given that she is a single 6 mother; however, one months’ clothing allowance far exceeds the cost of the filing fee. 7 || Because it appears Plaintiff has sufficient income to afford life’s necessities in addition to 8 || the filing fee, the Court DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiffs Motion. 9 CONCLUSION 10 Good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 1] 1. Plaintiff's Motion pursuant to

(a) (ECF No. 2) is DENIED 12 || WITHOUT PREJUDICE; 13 2. Plaintiff's Complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure 14 prepay the filing fee mandated by

(a); and 15 3. Plaintiff is GRANTED thirty (30) days from the date on which this Order is 16 || electronically docketed to either (1) pay the entire $400 statutory and administrative filing 17 || fee, or (2) file a new IFP Motion alleging she is unable to pay the requisite fees. 18 IT ISSO ORDERED. 19 20 Dated: March 30, 2020 tt 21 jen Janis L. Sammartino 9 United States District Judge 23 24 25 26 27 28 3