Brown v. East 92nd Street Associates, LLC

Background

Rosemarie MacMillan Brown filed the action without a lawyer and requested permission to proceed without paying court fees. This request is commonly called an application to proceed in forma pauperis, or IFP. The court explained that starting a civil action required either paying $400—consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $50 administrative fee—or submitting a complete IFP application.

Brown’s application stated that she was unemployed and received monthly Social Security payments, but it did not state the amount of those payments. The application also said that neither Brown nor anyone living at her residence had received more than $200 from certain sources during the previous twelve months, including Social Security. In addition, Brown did not answer questions about her bank-account balance, the value of her property or other assets, her monthly expenses, people she financially supported, or other financial obligations.

Court’s Analysis

Because the application did not fully and clearly disclose Brown’s financial situation, the court said it lacked enough information to decide whether she qualified to proceed without prepaying fees. The court therefore ordered Brown to either pay the required fees or complete and submit an amended IFP application fully answering all questions about her financial status. The amended application was to identify docket number 1:20-CV-6886 (CM). The court also stated that Brown might be required to pay the fees if it found that she had sufficient funds.

Ruling

Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Brown to comply within 30 days of the order. If she complied, the action would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures; if she did not, the court stated that it would dismiss the action. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied IFP status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not reach the merits of Brown’s underlying claims.