Shumake v. Enhance Recovery LLC

Full title: BETTY SHUMAKE, Plaintiff, v. ENHANCE RECOVERY LLC, Defendant

Court: United States District Court, S.D. Georgia, Statesboro Division

Date published: Jun 9, 2011

Case No. CV611-066 (S.D. Ga. Jun. 9, 2011)

Opinion

Case No. CV611-066.

June 9, 2011

ORDER

G. SMITH, Magistrate Judge

Plaintiff Betty Shumake seeks leave to proceed in forma pauperis ("IFP") in her Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681- 1681x, case against Enhance Recovery, LLC. (Doc. 3.) The Court will grant leave to proceed IFP if the plaintiff demonstrates that she cannot, because of her poverty, afford to pay the costs of litigation and still provide for herself and any dependents. 28 U.S.C. § 1915. While a plaintiff need not be absolutely destitute in order to proceed IFP, Adkins v. E.I. Dupont de Nemours, 335 U.S. 331, 339 (1948), the fact that financing her own litigation may cause some difficulty is not sufficient to relieve a plaintiff of her obligation to pay her own way where it is possible for her to do so without undue hardship.

Shumake's IFP motion states that she is employed at Harvey's Grocery with a monthly average take-home pay of $834. (Doc. 3 at 1.) She lists only $345 per month in expenses, and $800 in student loans. ( Id. at 2.) Despite her seemingly low income, the numbers suggest that she accumulates $489 a month in unspent funds (not accounting for student loan debt servicing). If that is the case, she should be able to easily afford to pay the Court's $350 filing fee. The Court, however, suspects that plaintiff has not offered a complete financial picture. She lists no assets, her monthly expenses are conspicuously low, and she has not listed any amount of money in cash or checking. (If she has nothing, she should answer "$0" rather than leaving the question blank.) Without a more detailed financial profile, the Court cannot assess whether she possesses resources sufficient to pay the filing fee.

Thus, Shumake is faced with two options. She may either submit the Court's $350 filing fee or provide a new IFP petition that offers a better financial snapshot. She has 14 days from the date of this Order to either pay the filing fee or supplement her IFP showing. If she does not respond, the Court will recommend that this case be dismissed.

SO ORDERED this 9th day of June, 2011.