Tonner v. First Service Residential Corporation
- Kimba Wood
- 1:24-cv-06913
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Tonner v. First Service Residential Corporation, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff to file an original signature within 30 days or face dismissal.
Stephen D. Tonner, who is representing himself, and the case against First Service Residential Corporation and other defendants.
What happened
In Tonner v. First Service Residential Corporation, Stephen D. Tonner submitted an amended complaint without the handwritten signature required for a person representing himself. The court therefore directed him to correct the filing.
The court ordered Tonner to resubmit the amended complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. No summons will issue yet. If he complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case; if he does not, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fees. The order was dated January 22, 2025.
The detailed version
- Tonner v. First Service Residential Corporation · No. 1:24-cv-06913
- Kimba Wood
- Jan. 22, 2025
Background
Stephen D. Tonner brought the action without a lawyer. He submitted an amended complaint that did not contain his signature. The court cited Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a), which require an unrepresented party to personally sign a pleading or other paper. The court explained that this requirement calls for a handwritten signature or a mark placed by hand.
Order
The court directed Tonner to resubmit the signature page of his amended complaint with an original signature within 30 days of the order. A copy of the signature page was attached to the order. No summons will issue at this time. If Tonner complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal and effect
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order addresses the required signature and related case-processing steps; it does not decide the claims in the amended complaint.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.