Ortiz v. John Doe

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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LUZ N. ORTIZ,
Plaintiff,
-against-
JOHN DOE CALLERS ASSOCIATED WITH
TELEPHONE NUMBERS LISTED IN EXHIBIT
A,
Defendants.
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MEMORANDUM & ORDER
25-CV-5595(EK)(SDE)
ERIC KOMITEE, United States District Judge:
Luz N. Ortiz filed this action under the Telephone
Consumer Protection Act of 1991. 	Proceeding pro se, Plaintiff
moves to proceed in forma pauperis. 	ECF No. 2. 	For the reasons
set forth below, that motion is denied without prejudice.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1914, the filing fee to commence a
civil action is $350, with an additional administrative fee of
$55, for a total fee of $405. 	Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, the Court
may waive the filing fee upon finding a plaintiff indigent.
Plaintiff’s application claims expenses in excess of income, but
lists $10,000 in cash and accounts. ECF No. 2, at 4. Based on
this information, the Court is unable to find that Plaintiff is
entitled to proceed in forma pauperis.
The only defendants named in this action are unknown
“callers associated with the telephone numbers listed in Exhibit
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A.” ECF No. 1. Plaintiff asks the Court to issue subpoenas to
T-Mobile USA, Inc. in order to identify the subscribers
associated with the listed phone numbers, “so that Plaintiff may
identify and properly serve the Defendants.” ECF No. 1-2, at 1.
Plaintiff also requests the Court to “order T-Mobile USA, Inc.
to waive any fees associated with producing these records.” Id.
at 2. No subpoena will issue until plaintiff pays the filing
fee in this case or is granted in forma pauperis status. Cf.
Lockridge v. Progressive Ins., No. 18-CV-814, 2019 WL 807055, at
*3 n.3 (W.D.N.Y. Feb. 21, 2019) (“28 U.S.C. § 1914 and § 1915
clarify that no civil action exists until either a plaintiff
pays the required filing and miscellaneous fees or a court
grants a plaintiff’s motion to proceed without paying those
fees . . . .”). And even if plaintiff were to proceed in forma
pauperis, that status would “not authorize the court to pay
[plaintiff’s] discovery costs.” Akande v. United States Marshal
Serv., No. 11-CV-1125, 2018 WL 10667611, at *1 (D. Conn. Aug.
21, 2018) (collecting cases).
To proceed with this action, plaintiff must either (1)
pay the requisite filing fee to the Clerk of Court, or (2)
submit a sufficient long-form in forma pauperis application. If
plaintiff fails to do either within fourteen days, this action
will be dismissed. The Court certifies pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken
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in good faith, and therefore denies in forma pauperis status for
the purpose of an appeal. Coppedge v. United States, 369 U.S.
438, 444-45 (1962). The Clerk of Court is respectfully
directed to mail a copy of this order to plaintiff and to note
the mailing on the docket.
SO ORDERED.
/s/ Eric Komitee
ERIC KOMITEE
United States District Judge
Dated: 	December 19, 2025
Brooklyn, New York
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