United States of America for the Benefit of G & G Heavy Equipment Rentals v…
United States of America for the Benefit of G & G Heavy Equipment Rentals, LLC v. Clark Realty Builders, LP
- Virginia Demarchi
- 5:22-cv-02162
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In United States for G & G Heavy Equipment v. Clark Realty, Judge Demarchi asked G&G to explain why its Miller Act case should avoid the filing fee.
G & G Heavy Equipment Rentals, LLC was required to explain why it should receive a waiver of the $402 civil-case filing fee. The order did not decide the underlying claims against Clark Realty Builders, LP or CNA Surety Corporation.
What happened
United States of America for the Use of G & G Heavy Equipment Rentals, LLC v. Clark Realty Builders, LP concerns G&G’s lawsuit against Clark Realty Builders and CNA Surety Corporation under the Miller Act, a federal law involving payment bonds for federal construction projects. G&G says it is owed $168,130 for providing heavy moving equipment.
G&G had not paid the $402 civil-case filing fee. The court understood that G&G believed the fee did not apply because a Miller Act plaintiff effectively stands in the United States’ place. The court said it was not aware of any waiver for Miller Act plaintiffs and understood that such plaintiffs generally pay the fee.
Judge Virginia K. Demarchi gave G&G until April 18, 2022, to file a brief of no more than five pages explaining, with supporting legal authority, why it should not have to pay the fee. The order did not decide whether G&G must pay the fee.
The detailed version
- United States of America for the Benefit of G & G Heavy Equipment Rentals v… · No. 5:22-cv-02162
- Virginia Demarchi
- Apr. 8, 2022
Background
G & G Heavy Equipment Rentals, LLC (G&G) filed a complaint against Clark Realty Builders, LP and CNA Surety Corporation under the Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. §§ 3131–3134. The complaint alleges that the contractor owes G&G $168,130 for heavy moving equipment supplied for a federal construction project. The opinion explains that the Miller Act requires a general contractor on a federal construction project to provide a payment bond protecting people who supply labor or materials, and permits qualifying unpaid suppliers to sue on that bond in federal court.
G&G had previously filed the complaint as a miscellaneous matter and stated that it would refile it as a civil case. After the civil action was filed, G&G had not paid the applicable $402 civil-case filing fee. The Clerk’s Office posted a notice requesting payment. The court understood G&G to contend that it did not owe the fee because, in a Miller Act lawsuit, it essentially stands in the United States’ place.
Court’s Action
The court stated that it was not aware of any rule waiving the civil-action filing fee for Miller Act plaintiffs and understood that plaintiffs filing Miller Act complaints pay the fee. Rather than decide the issue immediately, the court gave G&G an opportunity to respond. It ordered G&G to file, by April 18, 2022, a brief of no more than five pages explaining, with citations to persuasive legal authority, why it was entitled to a filing-fee waiver based on filing a Miller Act complaint.
The opinion is an order to show cause concerning the filing fee. It does not resolve G&G’s underlying claim for payment, and it does not state a final ruling granting or denying a fee waiver.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.