Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_16-cv-02048/USCOURTS-azd-2_16-cv-02048-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 863
Nature of Suit: Social Security - DIWC/DIWW (405(g))
Cause of Action: 42:405 Review of HHS Decision (SSID)

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WO NOT FOR PUBLICATION 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

Belia Hurtado Cruz, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

Carolyn W. Colvin, 

Defendant. 

No. CV-16-02048-PHX-JJT

ORDER 

At issue is Plaintiff Belia Hurtado Cruz’s Application to Proceed in District Court 

Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 2). Having determined that Plaintiff is unable to 

pay the Court’s fees, the Court will grant the Application. 

In her Application, Plaintiff also notes that she filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy 

protection in 2016 in the District of Arizona, Case No. 16-BK-013190-MCW, and the 

Bankruptcy Court apparently discharged her debts on June 2, 2016. Because a federal 

court is obligated to inquire into its subject matter jurisdiction in each case and to dismiss 

a case when subject matter jurisdiction is lacking, see Valdez v. Allstate Ins. Co., 372 

F.3d 1115, 1116 (9th Cir. 2004), the Court sua sponte examines Plaintiff’s standing to 

bring this case. 

 It appears Plaintiff’s claims in this lawsuit accrued before she filed for bankruptcy 

protection, and thus the trustee in her bankruptcy proceeding may have become the real 

party in interest with regard to her claims. See 11 U.S.C. § 541(a); Dunmore v. United 

States, 358 F.3d 1107, 1112 (9th Cir. 2004). However, the debtor in a bankruptcy 

Case 2:16-cv-02048-JJT Document 6 Filed 06/29/16 Page 1 of 2
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proceeding may exempt certain claims, such as those for social security disability 

benefits, from the property of the bankruptcy estate under the applicable federal or state 

law. See 11 U.S.C. § 522(d). To do so, the debtor must first schedule the claims and then 

list them as exempt in the bankruptcy proceeding. See In re Varney, 449 B.R. 411, 416-

17 (D. Idaho 2011); 11 U.S.C. §§ 522, 541. 

 The Court has no evidence before it that Plaintiff properly scheduled and 

exempted her claims in this lawsuit in her bankruptcy proceeding, or that the trustee 

otherwise properly abandoned Plaintiff’s present claims, and thus the Court cannot 

determine if Plaintiff has standing to bring these claims. The Court will thus ask Plaintiff 

to provide evidence demonstrating her standing in this case. 

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff’s Application to Proceed in District 

Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 2) is granted. Plaintiff is responsible for 

service of the Summons and Complaint on Defendant pursuant to Rule 4 of the Federal 

Rules of Civil Procedure, and may serve the Summons and Complaint by waiver under 

Rule 4(d). 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, within 14 days of the date of this Order, Plaintiff 

shall file a brief not to exceed five pages and supporting evidence demonstrating that she 

scheduled her present claims in her bankruptcy proceeding and that she has standing to 

bring these claims in this Court. 

 Dated this 29th day of June, 2016. 

Honorable John J. Tuchi

United States District Judge 

Case 2:16-cv-02048-JJT Document 6 Filed 06/29/16 Page 2 of 2