Green v. MZ 2640 Owner LLP
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-02529
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Green v. MZ 2640 Owner LLP: Chief Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiffs to pay fees or submit signed applications and fix a missing signature.
Shanta Green and Kelvin Arrington, who were required to pay the filing fees or submit signed applications to proceed without prepayment; Arrington also had to provide an original signature for the complaint.
What happened
Green v. MZ 2640 Owner LLP began with Shanta Green and Kelvin Arrington proceeding without lawyers. Green signed the complaint but submitted an incomplete application to proceed without paying fees, while Arrington signed neither document and submitted no separate application.
The court gave the plaintiffs 30 days to either pay $405 in fees or have both plaintiffs submit and sign their own applications to proceed without prepayment. Arrington also had to send the court an original-signature page for the complaint. No summons would issue at that time.
The order, issued by Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain, warned that the action would be dismissed if the plaintiffs did not comply within the allowed time. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal because it certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Green v. MZ 2640 Owner LLP · No. 1:24-cv-02529
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 5, 2024
Background
Shanta Green and Kelvin Arrington brought the action without lawyers. To proceed in the district court, they had to pay $405 in filing and administrative fees or request permission to proceed without paying those fees by submitting signed applications. Court rules also required each unrepresented party to personally sign the complaint and other papers.
Green signed the complaint and submitted an incomplete application to proceed without prepayment of fees, but her name was typed on that application. Arrington did not sign the complaint or the incomplete application and did not submit his own application.
Order
The court ordered the plaintiffs, within 30 days, either to pay the $405 in fees or for both Green and Arrington to submit and sign their own applications. The court directed that any applications identify docket number 24-CV-2529 (LTS). If the court granted the applications, the plaintiffs could proceed without prepaying the fees.
The court separately directed Arrington to submit a complaint signature page bearing his original signature within 30 days. No summons would issue at that time. The court stated that the action would be dismissed if the plaintiffs failed to comply within the allowed period, and that the case would otherwise be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures.
Appeal and Judge
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.