Gonzales v. Commissioner of Social Security ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 VIRGINIA ESTELLE G., Case No.: 21-cv-00674-KSC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION 13 v. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS [DOC. NO. 3] 14 COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, 15 Defendant. 16 17 On April 15, 2021, plaintiff Virginia Estelle G. commenced an action against the 18 Commissioner of Social Security, seeking review of a final adverse decision of the 19 Commissioner. Doc. No. 1. Plaintiff also filed an Application to Proceed with her 20 Complaint in forma pauperis. Doc. No. 3. 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, plaintiff's application states that she is unemployed and has limited income 4 assets. Plaintiff's sole income is $1,800.00 in unemployment payments and a one-time 5 || federal stimulus payment of $1,200. Doc. No. 3 at 2. Her assets consist of approximately 6 ||$400.00 in savings, a double-wide trailer home, and a 2004 Dodge Durango. Jd. at 3. 7 || Plaintiff reports that her monthly expenses for rent, utilities, transportation and credit card 8 || payments total $1,856.00, which exceeds her monthly income. Jd. at 4-5. Therefore, the 9 || Court finds that plaintiff has sufficiently shown she lacks the financial resources to pay the 10 || filing fee. 11 Accordingly, plaintiff's Application to Proceed in forma pauperis [Doc. No. 3] 1s 12 || GRANTED. 13 || IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 ||Dated: April 23, 2021 “tt Xj) 15 Miffce. A 16 Hon. Karen S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28