Perez v. Experian
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:20-cv-09119
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Perez v. Experian, Judge McMahon directed Eric Andrew Perez to pay $400 or submit an amended fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Eric Andrew Perez must either pay $400 or submit an adequate amended fee-waiver application within 30 days. The case will be dismissed if he does not comply; the underlying claims were not decided.
What happened
In Perez v. Experian, Eric Andrew Perez brought the action without a lawyer and submitted an application asking to proceed without paying court fees. He did not answer the application’s questions and instead stated that he wanted to pay the $400 fee.
The court gave Perez 30 days to pay the $400 filing and administrative fees. He could instead submit a completed amended application showing that he could not afford the fees. No summons would issue at that time.
Judge McMahon ordered payment or an amended application and stated that the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures if Perez complied. The order also stated that the action would be dismissed if he did not comply and denied fee-free status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Perez v. Experian · No. 1:20-cv-09119
- Paul Engelmayer
- Nov. 5, 2020
Background
Eric Andrew Perez filed this action without a lawyer. The court explained that a person starting a civil action must either pay $400 in fees—$350 for filing and $50 for administration—or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without paying fees in advance under 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
Perez submitted an application, but he did not answer any of its questions. Instead, he wrote that he wanted to pay the $400 filing fee.
Order
The court directed Perez to pay $400 within 30 days of the order. The court also allowed him to submit an amended application to proceed without prepaying fees. That application had to be labeled with docket number 20-CV-9119 (CM) and include facts showing that he could not pay the fees.
The court stated that, if Perez complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. No summons would issue at that time.
The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The opinion states that Perez consented to electronic service.
Disposition and Effect
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered Perez to pay the fees or submit an amended fee-waiver application; the order did not decide the underlying claims against Experian or the other defendants. The opinion identifies Colleen McMahon as the judge, although the supplied case metadata lists Paul Engelmayer.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.