Sageman v. United States

82 Fed. Cl. 367, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 184, 2008 WL 2604808
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 27, 2008
DocketNo. 08-208C
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 82 Fed. Cl. 367 (Sageman v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sageman v. United States, 82 Fed. Cl. 367, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 184, 2008 WL 2604808 (uscfc 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

HORN, Judge.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The plaintiff, Earl Sageman, filed a pro se complaint in this court on March 24, 2008. He also submitted a request to proceed in forma pauperis. The plaintiff indicates in his complaint that he owns a farm and states that the “defendants” are seeking foreclosure against him on that farm. Plaintiff names as defendants the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Farm Service Agen[368]*368cy (FSA), the Office of CM Rights (OCR), the Office of General Counsel (OGC), and the Department of Justice (DOJ).1 As jurisdictional and substantive support for his claims, plaintiff refers to constitutional amendments, statutes, and regulations, but plaintiff does not explain the applicability to the allegations in his complaint. Moreover, without specifying the existence of a contract, plaintiff claims that defendants breached a contract with him and alleges a conspiracy by employees of the government. Plaintiff claims that FSA officers are involved in “high conspiracy” which allowed “bonus [sic] for foreclosure,” “[o]ver-payment of program moneys to certain farmers,” and bribes to officials.

Plaintiffs claims are difficult to follow and are randomly asserted throughout his complaint. For example, plaintiff claims that he was improperly served with a foreclosure action, presumably on his farm, and states that because he was undergoing cancer treatment at a hospital when defendants sent the “primary servicing notice,” he did not receive it. Plaintiff also asserts that “[t]he defendant has been seeking or [sic] prosecution on foreclosure against the Plaintiff based on ac-knowledgement of Servicing; not due to the notice of servicing,” and that defendants violated the “1996 Fair Debt Collection Act” by attempting to foreclose on plaintiffs farm. Plaintiff further states that “the defendant” failed to “inform plaintiff of additional time allowed for applying” for loan servicing in violation of the “Secretary Feb. 95 Civil Rights directive,” which, according to plaintiff, “required the defendant to fully inform plaintiff of additional time allowed.” (emphasis in original). Plaintiff asserts that 7 U.S.C. § 1981d(e) provides additional time to apply for “Primary Loan Servicing due to extraordinary circumstance” and that when he applied for new “Primary Loan Servicing,” officials “conducted an elaborate and arbitrary ruse to block the new PLS [Primary Loan Service]____” Plaintiff also asserts that his cancer and “5 years of disaster declarations” should be considered as “extraordinary circumstance[s].”

Plaintiff also claims that a Farm Loan Specialist violated the Consumer Credit Protection Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act when he “called the plaintiff and told him the defendants were going to kill his [farming] operation, no matter what he did____” Plaintiff asserts that this was a violation of his due process rights and that “this promise of retaliation is barred by the Law{ [sic] Consumer Credit Protection Act and Equal Credit opportunity [sic] Act) [sic].” Plaintiff further claims that one of the defendants “told those in attendance [at a bankruptcy hearing] that they would not cooperate with Plaintiff [sic] Chapter 12 bankruptcy petition due to his disability (severe cancer),” and that an unnamed Department of Justice attorney argued that plaintiff did not have cancer but was “merely seeking sympathy from the court!” Plaintiff asserts that this violated “section 504 of the rehabilitation act [sic] of 1973 (29 USC 794).” Plaintiff refers to 20,000 pages of medical documents as evidence that he had cancer. Plaintiff then lists four pages of “directives and regulations” which, according to plaintiff, is “language creating a procedural Due Process interest.” He asserts that the defendants have acted “with deliberate discrimination and non-compliance with hundreds of thousands of Procedural Due Process violations.”

In the final paragraph of his complaint, plaintiff states that “the rule of law and many statutory laws, including Breach [sic] of contractual Law [sic] and the Law allows upon proof of discrimination, [sic] the Secretary shall be liable, and pay damages and the defendant [sic] arbitrary denial of services and Cooperation [sic] specifically due to handicap are plainly discriminatory, (29 USC 794)____” Plaintiff claims that the actions of the defendants have injured him and requests $54.8 million in damages.

DISCUSSION

In order to provide access to this court to those who cannot pay the filing fees mandated in this court by Rule 77.1(c) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims [369]*369(RCFC), 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (2000) permits a court of the United States to allow a plaintiff to file a complaint without payment of fees or security, under specific circumstances. The applicable statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1915, provides:

(a)(1) Subject to subsection (b), any court of the United States may authorize the commencement, prosecution or defense of any suit, action or proceeding, civil or criminal, or appeal therein, without prepayment of fees or security therefor, by a person who submits an affidavit that includes a statement of all assets such [person] prisoner possesses that the person is unable to pay such fees or give security therefor. Such affidavit shall state the nature of the action, defense or appeal and affiant’s belief that the person is entitled to redress.

28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) (bracketed word in original); see also Jackson v. United States, 80 Fed.Cl. 560, 563 (2008); Fullard v. United States, 78 Fed.Cl. 294, 297-98 (2007); Hayes v. United States, 71 Fed.Cl. 366, 366-67 (2006) (discussing 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)).

Therefore, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), in order to qualify for in forma pauperis status, an applicant must file an affidavit which includes a statement of assets, a statement that the applicant is unable to pay such fees or provide security, the nature of the action, defense or appeal, and that the affiant believes that he or she is entitled to redress.

In his Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, plaintiff asserts that he is self-employed and states that his monthly salary is $500.00. He also indicates that he received $500.00 in wages from a business, profession, or other form of self-employment “in [the last] 12 months.” Plaintiff lists the property that he refers to in his complaint as the “property that is in the issues at hand [sic],” as his sole asset, but plaintiff fails to state the value of that property. Plaintiff provided no supporting documentation for any of his assertions. Even assuming, however, that plaintiff could meet the requirements to proceed in forma pauperis, this court concludes that plaintiffs complaint is so defective that it must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim. See RCFC 12(b)(1); RCFC 12(b)(6).

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Bluebook (online)
82 Fed. Cl. 367, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 184, 2008 WL 2604808, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sageman-v-united-states-uscfc-2008.