(PS) Jackson v. Experian ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ARTICE JACKSON, No. 2:24-cv-01122-TLN-SCR 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER 14 EXPERIAN, 15 Defendant. 16 17 Plaintiff is proceeding pro se in this action. This matter was accordingly referred to the 18 undersigned by operation of Local Rule 302(c)(21). Plaintiff filed a request for leave to proceed 19 in forma pauperis (“IFP”) and submitted the affidavit required by that statute. See 28 U.S.C. 20 § 1915(a)(1). The motion to proceed IFP will be granted. However, in screening Plaintiff’s 21 complaint, as required by Section 1915(e)(2), the Court concludes that the complaint does not 22 allege facts establishing federal jurisdiction and fails to state a claim. Plaintiff will be granted 23 leave to amend the complaint. 24 I. SCREENING 25 A. Legal Standard 26 The federal IFP statute requires federal courts to dismiss a case if the action is legally 27 “frivolous or malicious,” fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks 28 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). 1 Courts review the complaint that initiates the case to perform this screening function. They are 2 guided by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which are available online at 3 www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure. 4 Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the complaint must contain (1) a “short and 5 plain statement” of the basis for federal jurisdiction (that is, the reason the case is filed in this 6 court, rather than in a state court), (2) a short and plain statement showing that plaintiff is entitled 7 to relief (that is, who harmed the plaintiff, and in what way), and (3) a demand for the relief 8 sought. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Plaintiff’s claims must be set forth simply, concisely and directly. 9 Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(d)(1). Forms are available to help pro se plaintiffs organize their complaint in 10 the proper way. They are available at the Clerk’s Office, 501 I Street, 4th Floor (Rm. 4-200), 11 Sacramento, CA 95814, or online at www.uscourts.gov/forms/pro-se-forms. 12 A claim is legally frivolous when it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in fact. 13 Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989). In reviewing a complaint under this standard, the 14 Court will (1) accept as true all of the factual allegations contained in the complaint, unless they 15 are clearly baseless or fanciful, (2) construe those allegations in the light most favorable to the 16 plaintiff, and (3) resolve all doubts in the plaintiff’s favor. See Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327; Von 17 Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, 592 F.3d 954, 960 (9th Cir. 2010), cert. 18 denied, 564 U.S. 1037 (2011). 19 The Court applies the same rules in determining whether the complaint states a claim on 20 which relief can be granted. Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (court must accept the 21 allegations as true); Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236 (1974) (court must construe the 22 complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff). Pro se pleadings are held to a less stringent 23 standard than those drafted by lawyers. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972). However, 24 the court need not accept as true conclusory allegations, unreasonable inferences, or unwarranted 25 deductions of fact. Western Mining Council v. Watt, 643 F.2d 618, 624 (9th Cir. 1981). A 26 formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action does not suffice to state a claim. Bell 27 Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-57 (2007); Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 28 (2009). 1 To state a claim on which relief may be granted, the plaintiff must allege enough facts “to 2 state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A claim has 3 facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the 4 reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 5 678. A pro se litigant is entitled to notice of the deficiencies in the complaint and an opportunity 6 to amend, unless the complaint’s deficiencies could not be cured by amendment. See Noll v. 7 Carlson, 809 F.2d 1446, 1448 (9th Cir. 1987), superseded on other grounds by statute as stated in 8 Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir.2000)) (en banc). 9 B. The Complaint 10 Plaintiff’s Complaint names one defendant, Experian. ECF No. 1 at 2. The Complaint 11 does not assert a basis for federal jurisdiction. Id. at 3. The entire statement of Plaintiff’s claim is 12 “April-15-2024 fraudulent account.” Id. at 5. For relief, Plaintiff states that he is seeking 13 $100,000 and to “have all the inaccurate items information remove.” Id. at 6. Plaintiff then 14 attaches to the Complaint what appears to be a letter regarding the allegedly fraudulent account. 15 Id. at 8. Plaintiff also attaches one page of what appears to have been a four-page letter that is 16 addressed to him and may be from LexisNexis Consumer Center. Id. at 9. The letter is dated 17 December 1, 2021. Id. 18 C. Analysis 19 The Complaint does not sufficiently plead a basis for federal jurisdiction. Plaintiff has 20 failed to allege on the form complaint the basis for jurisdiction. From the attachments to the 21 Complaint, it appears that Plaintiff may be attempting to assert a claim under the Fair Credit 22 Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq. This court would have jurisdiction to review 23 a claim under FCRA, but Plaintiff has not sufficiently pled facts establishing the claim or 24 jurisdictional basis. The only reference to the FCRA is in the attachments to the Complaint. 25 The purpose of the FCRA is “to ensure fair and accurate credit reporting, promote 26 efficiency in the banking system, and protect consumer privacy.” Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. Burr, 27 551 U.S. 47, 52 (2007). The FCRA regulates credit reporting agencies to guarantee that 28 consumer information is assembled, evaluated, and disseminated with “fairness, impartiality, and 1 a respect for the consumer’s right to privacy.” Gorman v. Wolpoff & Abramson, LLP, 584 F.3d 2 1147, 1153 (9th Cir. 2009) (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 1681(a)(4)). The “FCRA imposes duties on the 3 credit furnishers, which are the sources that provide information to credit reporting agencies, to 4 ensure accurate credit reporting.” Arnold v. Bay Finance Co., 2023 WL 2088460 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 5 17, 2023). 6 The Complaint does not comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(1)-(2) as it 7 does not contain a “short and plain” statement setting forth the grounds for federal jurisdiction, or 8 a short and plaint statement showing Plaintiff’s entitlement to relief. The exact nature of what 9 happened to Plaintiff is unclear from the Complaint, other than he complains of a “fraudulent 10 account.” The Complaint states “April-15-2024 fraudulent account,” however one of the attached 11 documents references a credit reinvestigation in 2021. ECF No. 1 at 5, 9. The Court cannot tell 12 from examining the Complaint what legal wrong was done to Plaintiff, by whom and when, or 13 how the alleged harm is connected to the relief Plaintiff seeks. The Complaint must put 14 Defendant on notice of the allegations against it, so that the Defendant may adequately respond. 15 Plaintiff should also bear in mind that under the FCRA a plaintiff must bring his claim within “2 16 years after the date of discovery by the plaintiff of the violation that is the basis for such liability.” 17 15 U.S.C. § 1681p. 18 Accordingly, the complaint does not establish this Court’s jurisdiction, does not comply 19 with Rule 8, and fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted. Rather than recommending 20 dismissal of the action, the undersigned will provide Plaintiff an opportunity to amend the 21 complaint to allege a proper basis for jurisdiction and facts supporting a cause of action. 22 II. AMENDING THE COMPLAINT 23 If Plaintiff chooses to amend the complaint, the amended complaint must allege facts 24 establishing the existence of federal jurisdiction. In addition, it must contain a short and plain 25 statement of Plaintiff’s claims. The allegations of the complaint must be set forth in sequentially 26 numbered paragraphs, with each paragraph number being one greater than the one before, each 27 paragraph having its own number, and no paragraph number being repeated anywhere in the 28 complaint. Each paragraph should be limited “to a single set of circumstances” where 1 possible. Rule 10(b). As noted above, forms are available to help plaintiffs organize their 2 complaint in the proper way. They are available at the Clerk’s Office, 501 I Street, 4th Floor 3 (Rm. 4-200), Sacramento, CA 95814, or online at www.uscourts.gov/forms/pro-se-forms. 4 The amended complaint must not force the Court and the defendants to guess at what is 5 being alleged against whom. See McHenry v. Renne, 84 F.3d 1172, 1177-80 (9th Cir. 1996) 6 (affirming dismissal of a complaint where the district court was “literally guessing as to what 7 facts support the legal claims being asserted against certain defendants”). The amended 8 complaint must not require the Court to spend its time “preparing the ‘short and plain statement’ 9 which Rule 8 obligated plaintiffs to submit.” Id. at 1180. The amended complaint must not 10 require the court and defendants to prepare lengthy outlines “to determine who is being sued for 11 what.” Id. at 1179. 12 Also, the amended complaint must not refer to a prior pleading in order to make Plaintiff’s 13 amended complaint complete. An amended complaint must be complete in itself without 14 reference to any prior pleading. Local Rule 220. This is because, as a general rule, an amended 15 complaint supersedes the original complaint. See Pacific Bell Tel. Co. v. Linkline 16 Communications, Inc., 555 U.S. 438, 456 n.4 (2009) (“[n]ormally, an amended complaint 17 supersedes the original complaint”) (citing 6 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice & 18 Procedure § 1476, pp. 556-57 (2d ed. 1990)). Therefore, in an amended complaint, as in an 19 original complaint, each claim and the involvement of each defendant must be sufficiently 20 alleged. 21 III. CONCLUSION 22 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 23 1. Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2) is GRANTED; 24 2. Plaintiff shall have 30 days from the date of this order to file an amended complaint 25 that addresses the defects set forth above. The amended complaint must include a 26 sufficient jurisdictional statement and comply with Rule 8. If Plaintiff fails to timely 27 comply with this order, the undersigned may recommend that this action be dismissed. 28 //// 1 3. Alternatively, if plaintiff no longer wishes to pursue this action plaintiff may file a notice 2 of voluntary dismissal of this action pursuant to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil 3 Procedure. 4 SO ORDERED. 5 || DATED: September 15, 2024 md . 7 SEAN C. RIORDAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28