William D. Jernigan IV v. Navy Federal Credit Union; et al.

Opinion

2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 * * * 5 William D. Jernigan IV, Case No. 2:26-cv-01580-RFB-DJA 6 Plaintiff, 7 Order v. 8 Navy Federal Credit Union; et al., 9 Defendants. 10 11 Pro se Plaintiff William D. Jernigan IV filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis 12 (which means to proceed without paying the filing fee). (ECF No. 1). However, Plaintiff’s 13 application is missing certain information. The Court thus denies Plaintiff’s application without 14 prejudice. 15 I. Discussion. 16 Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(1), a plaintiff may bring a civil action “without prepayment of 17 fees or security therefor” if the plaintiff submits a financial affidavit that demonstrates the 18 plaintiff “is unable to pay such fees or give security therefor.” The Ninth Circuit has recognized 19 that “there is no formula set forth by statute, regulation, or case law to determine when someone 20 is poor enough to earn [in forma pauperis] status.” Escobedo v. Applebees, 787 F.3d 1226, 1235 21 (9th Cir. 2015). An applicant need not be destitute to qualify for a waiver of costs and fees, but 22 he must demonstrate that because of his poverty he cannot pay those costs and still provide 23 himself with the necessities of life. Adkins v. E.I DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339 24 (1948). 25 The applicant’s affidavit must state the facts regarding the individual’s poverty “with 26 some particularity, definiteness and certainty.” United States v. McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 27 (9th Cir. 1981) (citation omitted). If an individual is unable or unwilling to verify his or her 1 status and to deny a request to proceed in forma pauperis. See, e.g., Marin v. Hahn, 271 2 Fed.Appx. 578 (9th Cir. 2008) (finding that the district court did not abuse its discretion by 3 denying the plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis because he “failed to verify his 4 poverty adequately”). “Such affidavit must include a complete statement of the plaintiff’s 5 personal assets.” Harper v. San Diego City Admin. Bldg., No. 16-cv-00768 AJB (BLM), 2016 6 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192145, at *1 (S.D. Cal. June 9, 2016). Misrepresentation of assets is sufficient 7 grounds for denying an in forma pauperis application. Cf. Kennedy v. Huibregtse, 831 F.3d 441, 8 443-44 (7th Cir. 2016) (affirming dismissal with prejudice after litigant misrepresented assets on 9 in forma pauperis application). 10 Plaintiff leaves both question 1 and the first part of question 2 blank on his application. 11 While the Court can infer that Plaintiff is not incarcerated, he must make that clear on his 12 application. And Plaintiff must make it clear whether he is employed or not. Plaintiff responds to 13 the remainder of question 2 by indicating that he makes no money from any source. Plaintiff also 14 claims to have no money in cash or a checking or savings account in response to question 4. He 15 claims to have no items of value in response to question 5. He claims to have no monthly 16 expenses in response to question 6, no dependents in response to question 7, and no debts in 17 response to question 8. 18 On the docket, Plaintiff includes an address. Public records reveal that the address is 19 within an apartment complex. But Plaintiff provides no information regarding whether he pays 20 rent or utilities. And it is not clear how Plaintiff lives given his claim to make no money and have 21 no bills. 22 Given these issues, it appears that Plaintiff has omitted information from the application. 23 The Court therefore cannot determine whether Plaintiff qualifies for in forma pauperis status. 24 The Court will give Plaintiff one opportunity to file a complete in forma pauperis application on 25 this Court’s Long Form application. See Greco v. NYE County Dist. Jude Robert Lane, No. 2:15- 26 cv-01370-MMD-PAL, 2016 WL 7493981, at *3 (D. Nev. Nov. 9, 2016) report and 27 recommendation adopted sub nom. Greco v. Lake, No. 2:15-cv-001370-MMD-PAL, 2016 WL 1 submit the Long Form, the correct form must be submitted and the applicant must provide all the 2 information requested in the Long Form so that the court is able to make a fact finding regarding 3 the applicant’s financial status”) (emphasis in original). The Court further orders that Plaintiff 4 may not respond with a zero or “not applicable” in response to any question without providing an 5 explanation for each of the questions. Plaintiff also may not leave any questions blank. Plaintiff 6 must describe each source of money that he receives, state the amount he received, and what he 7 expects to receive in the future. 8 The Court denies Plaintiff’s in forma pauperis application without prejudice. The Court 9 gives Plaintiff 30 days to file an updated application. Plaintiff must fully answer all applicable 10 questions and check all applicable boxes. Plaintiff may alternatively pay the filing fee in full. 11 Since the Court denies Plaintiff’s application, it does not screen the complaint at this time. 12 However, the Court informs Plaintiff that he has not signed his complaint (ECF No. 3 at 51) and 13 that Plaintiff may not proceed with an unsigned complaint. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 11. Plaintiff must 14 file a signed complaint along with his filing fee or renewed application to proceed in forma 15 pauperis. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 /// 27 /// 1 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma 2 pauperis (ECF No. 1) is denied without prejudice. 3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff has until June 29, 2026, to (1) file an 4 updated application to proceed in forma pauperis as specified in this order or pay the filing fee; 5 and (2) file a signed complaint. Failure to timely comply with this order may result in a 6 recommendation to the district judge that this case be dismissed. 7 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of Court is kindly directed to send Plaintiff 8 a copy of this order and of the Long Form application to proceed in forma pauperis and its 9 instructions.1 10 11 DATED: May 29, 2026, 12 DANIEL J. ALBREGTS 13 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 1 This form and its instructions can also be found at https://www.nvd.uscourts.gov/court-