Buxbaum v. Zillow, Inc.
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-10054
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Buxbaum v. Zillow, Chief Judge Swain dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Buxbaum neither paid filing fees nor requested fee-free filing.
Michael Buxbaum’s complaint against Zillow, Inc. was dismissed without prejudice because he neither submitted the required fee-waiver request nor paid the filing fee.
What happened
In Buxbaum v. Zillow, Inc., the court had ordered Michael Buxbaum to submit a completed request to file without paying fees or pay the $405 filing fee within 30 days. The order warned that failing to do so would lead to dismissal.
Buxbaum did neither. The court therefore dismissed the complaint without prejudice, meaning the dismissal did not bar refiling. The court also directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain said that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free filing status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Buxbaum v. Zillow, Inc. · No. 1:24-cv-10054
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 11, 2025
Background
On January 6, 2025, the court ordered Michael Buxbaum to do one of two things within 30 days: submit a completed request to proceed without paying court fees, or pay the $405 required to file a civil action. The order stated that failing to comply would result in dismissal of the complaint.
Ruling
Buxbaum did not submit the fee-waiver request and did not pay the filing fee. The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914 and 1915. The court also directed the clerk to enter judgment.
Appeal-Filing Status
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied fee-free filing status for purposes of an appeal.
Disposition
The complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and judgment was ordered entered. The opinion is dated February 7, 2025; the supplied case information lists a filing date of February 11, 2025.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.