McCarley v. AIRBNB, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedApril 17, 2025
Docket2:25-cv-00510
StatusUnknown

This text of McCarley v. AIRBNB, Inc. (McCarley v. AIRBNB, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCarley v. AIRBNB, Inc., (D. Nev. 2025).

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 Amanda Jean McCarley, 2:25-cv-00510-JAD-MDC 4 Plaintiff(s), ORDER 5 vs. 6 AIRBNB, Inc., et al., 7 Defendant(s). 8 Pending before the Court are pro se plaintiff Amanda Jean McCarley’s Motion/Application to 9 Proceed In Forma Pauperis (“IFP application”) (ECF No. 1), Complaint (ECF No. 1-1), and Motion for 10 Protective Order (ECF No. 6). For the reasons stated below, the Court dismisses plaintiff’s Complaint 11 without prejudice and with leave to amend. The Court also denies the Motion for Protective Order and 12 quashes service. 13 DISCUSSION 14 I. USE OF UCC 1-308 15 Upon reviewing plaintiff’s IFP application and Complaint, the Court noted that plaintiff included 16 with her signature, “UCC 1-308.” This contravenes one of the fundamental purposes of Rule 11. The 17 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) states that “[e]very pleading, written motion, and other paper must 18 be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney’s name—or by a party personally if the party 19 is unrepresented.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(a). 20 “One of the fundamental purposes of Rule 11 is to reduce frivolous claims, defenses, or motions 21 and to deter costly meritless maneuvers …thereby avoiding delay and unnecessary expense in 22 litigation.” Christian v. Mattel, Inc., 286 F.3d 1118, 1127 (9th Cir. 2002) (internal quotations omitted). 23 In sum, “Rule 11 is aimed at curbing abuses of the judicial system.” Bus. Guides, Inc. v. Chromatic 24 Communs. Enters., 498 U.S. 533, 542, 111 S. Ct. 922, 928 (1991) (internal quotations omitted). 25 Plaintiff includes “UCC 1-308” next to her name. The relevant portion of UCC § 1-308 states, 1 A party that with explicit reservation of rights performs or promises performance or assents to performance in a manner demanded or offered by the other party does not thereby 2 prejudice the rights reserved. Such words as "without prejudice," "under protest," or the like are sufficient. 3 UCC § 1-308(a). 4 While the intended meaning is unclear, the Court notes that including “UCC 1-308” is a frequent 5 and common tactic by those who adhere to the sovereign citizen movement. See Tiffany v. Karen, 2023 6 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91639, at *4 (D. Nev. May 25, 2023) (“Plaintiff also appears to have included in the 7 signature line a reference to "UCC 1-308" which appears to refer to some sort of reservation of rights. 8 This is common in Moorish pleadings because they believe that by "reserving your rights" you can avoid 9 the potential consequences of untruthful answers.”); see also Harper v. California Dep’t of Corr. & 10 Rehabilitations, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57821, at *2 (E.D. Cal. March 29, 2022) (collecting cases) 11 (finding that inclusion of UCC 1-308 “has been used by persons who consider themselves to be 12 ‘sovereign citizens.’”). 13 The Court finds that plaintiff intends to include UCC § 1-308 as a means to “avoid the potential 14 consequences of untruthful answers.” Plaintiff cannot seek to absolve herself from the consequences of 15 untruthful or “frivolous” pleadings and/or filings. C.f. United States v. Sykes, 614 F.3d 303, 306 n.2 (7th 16 Cir. 2010) (characterizing defendant's claim that the UCC relieved him of criminal liability as “bizarre”). 17 The purpose of Rule 11 is undermined when filers, such as plaintiff, seek to “reserve her rights” and 18 thereby avoid the penalty such consequences. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b)-(c) (permitting sanctions for 19 violations of the rule). To the extent that plaintiff attempts to assert such sovereign citizen/Moorish 20 ideology in her IFP application and Complaint, the Court rejects them. This Court and many others have 21 rejected such movements. See Harper, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57821, at *2; see also United States v. 22 Studley, 783 F.2d 934, 937, fn.3 (9th Cir. 1986) (finding that arguments based on sovereign citizen 23 ideology is frivolous and grounds for sanctions). More importantly, the Court has rejected plaintiff’s 24 prior IFP applications for the same reasons, notifying plaintiff that her UCC 1-308 signature is not valid 25 1 and contravenes one of the fundamental purposes of Rule 11. See McCarley v. Stout Ins. Co., LLC., No. 2 2:24-cv-01697-CDS-MDC, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 205668 (D. Nev. Nov. 12, 2024). Plaintiff’s 3 continued submission of documents including her improper UCC 1-308 signature may result in 4 sanctions. 5 The Court finds that the plaintiff has failed to sign her IFP application and her proposed 6 complaint. Because plaintiff did not sign the complaint, the Court cannot properly consider it for 7 screening. Rule 11 provides that "omission of the signature" may be "corrected promptly after being 8 called to the attention of the attorney or party." The Court will grant plaintiff an opportunity to cure the 9 defect. If plaintiff chooses to cure the defect, she should file a new, properly signed long form IFP 10 application and a complaint, in the form of an amended complaint. 11 However, even if plaintiff omitted usage of “USS §1-308,” her IFP application and Complaint 12 are still deficient. For the purpose of judicial economy, the Court discusses such deficiencies below to 13 give plaintiff an opportunity to address these in her new IFP application and amended complaint. 14 II. IFP APPLICATION 15 A. Legal Standard 16 Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), a plaintiff may bring a civil action “without prepayment of fees or 17 security thereof” if the plaintiff submits a financial affidavit that demonstrates the plaintiff “is unable to 18 pay such fees or give security therefor.” The Ninth Circuit has recognized that “there is no formula set 19 forth by statute, regulation, or case law to determine when someone is poor enough to earn IFP status.” 20 Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1235 (9th Cir. 2015). An applicant need not be destitute to 21 qualify for a waiver of costs and fees, but he must demonstrate that because of his poverty he cannot pay 22 those costs and still provide himself with the necessities of life. Adkins v. E.I DuPont de Nemours & 23 Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339 (1948). 24 The applicant's affidavit must state the facts regarding the individual's poverty “with some 25 particularity, definiteness and certainty.” United States v. McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir. 1981) 1 (citation omitted). If an individual is unable or unwilling to verify his or her poverty, district courts have 2 the discretion to make a factual inquiry into a plaintiff's financial status and to deny a request to proceed 3 in forma pauperis. See, e.g., Marin v. Hahn, 271 Fed.Appx. 578 (9th Cir. 2008) (finding that the district 4 court did not abuse its discretion by denying the plaintiff's request to proceed IFP because he “failed to 5 verify his poverty adequately”). “Such affidavit must include a complete statement of the plaintiff's 6 personal assets.” Harper v. San Diego City Admin. Bldg., No. 16cv00768 AJB (BLM), 2016 U.S. Dist. 7 LEXIS 192145, at 1 (S.D. Cal. June 9, 2016).

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Bluebook (online)
McCarley v. AIRBNB, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccarley-v-airbnb-inc-nvd-2025.