Kaland v. Kijakazi ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 GREGORY K., Case No.: 3:20-cv-2180-KSC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION 13 v. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS [DOC. NO. 2] 14 ANDREW M. SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, 15 Defendant. 16 17 On November 6, 2020, plaintiff Gregory K. commenced an action against Andrew 18 M. Saul, the Commissioner of Social Security, seeking review of a final adverse decision 19 of the Commissioner. Doc. No. 1. Plaintiff also filed an Application to Proceed with his 20 Complaint in forma pauperis. Doc. No. 2. 21 A court may authorize the commencement of a suit without prepayment of fees if 22 the plaintiff submits an affidavit, including a statement of all his or her assets, showing that 23 he or she is unable to pay the filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). The affidavit must “state 24 the facts as to [the] affiant's poverty with some particularity, definiteness and certainty.” 25 United States v. McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir.1981) (internal quotations omitted). 26 A party need not be completely destitute to proceed in forma pauperis. Adkins v. E.I. 27 DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339–340 (1948). An affidavit is sufficient if it 28 / / 1 ||shows that the applicant cannot pay the fee “and still be able to provide himself and 2 || dependents with the necessities of life.” Jd. (internal quotations omitted). 3 Here, plaintiffs application states that he is unemployed and has limited income and 4 ||assets. Although he reports $1000 per month in disability benefits, plaintiff states that this 5 || disability income will end in November, after which his only monthly income or benefits 6 || will be approximately $192 in public assistance. Doc. No. 2 at 2. Plaintiffs assets consist 7 ||of a checking account with a balance of $200, a 2009 Toyota 4-Runner valued at $6,000 8 ||and a 1956 Chevy Apache valued at $10,000. Jd. at 3. Plaintiff states he plans to sell his 9 || motorcycle and has not paid registration nor insurance for either of his vehicles. Jd. at 3- 10 Plaintiff's monthly expenses, which include food, utilities, and transportation, total 11 ||$592. Id. at 5. Therefore, the Court finds that plaintiff has sufficiently shown he lacks the 12 || financial resources to pay the filing fee. 13 Accordingly, plaintiffs Application to Proceed with his Complaint in forma 14 || pauperis [Doc. No. 2.]| is GRANTED. 15 || IT IS SO ORDERED. 16 ||Dated: November 17, 2020 Si LY YY 17 fae 18 Hon. Karen S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28