Willis v. St. Louis Real Estate et al

Filing 5

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiffs motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis [ECF No. 2] is GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff shall have until February 19, 2015 to provide the Court with the addresses for John Morgan and Ryan Wessel.( Response to Court due by 2/19/2015.) Signed by District Judge Carol E. Jackson on 1/20/2015. (KMS)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
CLEO WILLIS, SR.,
Plaintiff,
v.
STL REAL ESTATE, et al.,
Defendants,

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No. 4:15CV37 TCM

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Plaintiff moves to bring this action in forma pauperis. Because plaintiff has shown that
he cannot afford to pay the filing fee, the Court will grant the motion.
Plaintiff brings this action under the Fair Housing Act. Named as defendants are STL
Real Estate, John Morgan, and Ryan Wessel. According to the complaint, plaintiff was a tenant
in a house owned by Morgan. Plaintiff alleges that Morgan sold the house to Wessel without
providing him adequate notice. Plaintiff also alleges that Morgan gave him false assurances that
he would not have to move out of the house until his lease expired. Plaintiff, who is AfricanAmerican, alleges that Morgan gave adequate notice of the sale to Caucasian women who also
lived on the premises. Plaintiff claims that Wessel has been harassing him and is evicting him
from the property.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e), the Court is required to review any complaint filed in forma
pauperis and to dismiss it if it frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief can
be granted. In the instant case, the complaint does not contain any allegations that STL Real
Estate discriminated against plaintiff or caused him injury. Therefore, the complaint does not
state a claim against STL Real Estate and it will be dismissed as to this defendant.

The Fair Housing Act protects buyers and renters from sex and race discrimination. See
42 U.S.C. § 3604. While plaintiff’s allegations are not a model of clarity, the Court construes it
liberally to be non-frivolous as to defendants Morgan and Wessel.
Plaintiff has not provided the Court with the addresses for either Morgan or Wessel. As a
result, the Court cannot serve process on defendants. Plaintiff will be given a reasonable amount
of time to provide the defendants’ addresses. If plaintiff fails to do so, the Court will dismiss the
action as to these defendants without further proceedings.
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motion for leave to proceed in forma
pauperis [ECF No. 2] is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff shall have until February 19, 2015 to
provide the Court with the addresses for John Morgan and Ryan Wessel.
Dated this 20th day of January, 2015.

CAROL E. JACKSON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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