Pena v. New York City Department of Homeless Services
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-07506
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Timothy Pena v. New York City Department of Homeless Services, Chief Judge Swain ordered payment or a signed fee-waiver application and signature.
Timothy Pena must either pay the required fees or submit the required application and must provide a signature within 30 days. The case will not proceed to summons or an answer unless he complies.
What happened
In Timothy Pena v. New York City Department of Homeless Services, Timothy Pena filed the case without paying the required fees or properly completing the application to proceed without prepaying them. The order also states that Pena is representing himself.
The court gave Pena 30 days to either pay $405 or submit the attached application to proceed without prepaying fees. Pena must also sign and return the signature page because the application he submitted was unsigned.
The court said no summons or answer would issue yet and that the case would be processed if Pena complied. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain stated that failure to comply would result in dismissal without prejudice and denied fee-free status for any appeal because an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Pena v. New York City Department of Homeless Services · No. 1:25-cv-07506
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 12, 2025
Background
Timothy Pena brought this action without a lawyer. The court’s order addresses the requirements for starting the case; it does not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Fees and fee-waiver application
The court explained that a civil action requires $405 in fees: a $350 filing fee and a $55 administrative fee. Instead of paying those fees, a plaintiff may request permission to proceed without prepaying them by submitting a signed application. This is commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis, or IFP.
The court stated that Pena submitted the complaint without the required fees or an IFP application. It directed him, within 30 days of the order, to either pay $405 or submit the attached IFP application, labeled with docket number 25-CV-7506. If the court grants the application, Pena may proceed without prepaying the fees.
Signature requirement and disposition
The court also stated that the IFP application Pena submitted was unsigned. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires an unrepresented party to sign pleadings, motions, and other papers personally. The court directed Pena to sign and submit the attached signature page within 30 days.
No summons or answer will issue at this time. If Pena 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 without prejudice. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.