First National Repossessors, Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Background

First National Repossessors, Inc. (FNR) and Don Mashak, appearing without lawyers, filed a complaint and an application to proceed without paying the filing fee. A magistrate judge denied that application because FNR was not eligible for that status. The court gave the plaintiffs 20 days to pay the required $400 filing fee and later extended the deadline to November 19, 2018. The plaintiffs never paid the fee.

The magistrate judge recommended dismissing the complaint without prejudice for failure to prosecute. The plaintiffs filed an objection. They objected to the court’s failure to dismiss FNR earlier, challenged the interpretation of the statute governing fee waivers, and objected to the court’s failure to unseal records from state-court proceedings. The district court reviewed the challenged portions of the recommendation independently.

Ruling

The court rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments. It stated that neither Mashak nor FNR was eligible to proceed without paying the filing fee, and that the court could not disregard the statutory rule that only a natural person may qualify for that status. It also held that Mashak’s request concerning the state-court records was moot because the case was being dismissed.

Judge Susan Richard Nelson overruled the plaintiffs’ objection, adopted Magistrate Judge Steven Rau’s report and recommendation in its entirety, and dismissed the complaint without prejudice. The court ordered that judgment be entered accordingly.