1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 PAUL JOSEPH CHRISTOPHER, Case No.: 24cv2473-LL-VET

12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 13 v. PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, 15 Defendant. 16

17 18 On December 27, 2024 Plaintiff Paul Joseph Christopher filed this civil action 19 against Commissioner of Social Security. ECF No. 1. Plaintiff did not prepay the civil 20 filing fees required by

(a) at the time of filing; instead, he filed a Motion 21 to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP”) pursuant to

(a). ECF No. 2. 22 Generally, all parties instituting a civil action in this court must pay a filing fee. See 28

(a); CivLR 4.5(a). However, under

(a), the court may 24 authorize the commencement, prosecution or defense of any suit without payment of fees 25 if the plaintiff submits an affidavit, including a statement of all his or her assets, showing 26 that he or she is unable to pay filing fees or costs. “An affidavit in support of an IFP 27 application is sufficient where it alleges that the affiant cannot pay the court costs and still 28 afford the necessities of life.” Escobedo v. Applebees,

(9th Cir. 2015). 1 || “[A] plaintiff seeking IFP status must allege poverty with some particularity, definiteness 2 certainty.” /d. (internal quotation marks omitted). The granting or denial of leave to 3 || proceed IFP in civil cases is within the sound discretion of the district court. Venerable v. 4 || Meyers,

(9th Cir. 1974) (citations omitted). 5 Here, Plaintiff's Motion is based on an outdated IFP application form captioned 6 ||“CIV-67.” ECF No. 2. In his application, Plaintiff represents that he is currently 7 unemployed and has no income. /d. Plaintiff's application is dated December 27, 2022, 8 || which predates the Complaint filed in this case by two years. Jd. Based on the lack of 9 “particularity, definiteness and certainty” in the information provided, the Court cannot 10 ||}determine whether Plaintiff lacks the funds to pay the filing fee and “still afford the 11 necessities of life.” Escobedo,

. 12 To the extent Plaintiff seeks to resubmit his request, he is directed to complete form 13 |} AO 239 (Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs — Long 14 || Form) which can be found on the District Court’s website. On or before February 28, 15 2025, Plaintiff must either (1) pay the requisite filing fee, or (2) file a renewed motion for 16 || IFP containing the necessary information using the correct form. If Plaintiff fails to timely 17 ||submit payment or a renewed motion for IFP, this case will be dismissed. Accordingly, 18 || Plaintiffs application to proceed IFP [ECF No. 2] is DENIED without prejudice.! 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 Dated: February 12, 2025 NO 21 DE | 22 Honorable Linda Lopez 33 United States District Judge 24 25 8 8©=©)—”

27 ||! Upon granting a request to proceed IFP, the Court must additionally analyze the 28 sufficiency of the complaint under 28 U.S.C § 1915.