In re Gjerde

The court “may waive” the chapter 7 case filing fee by virtue of 28 U.S.C. § 1930 (f)(1) for individuals whose income is below a designated threshold and who are unable to pay the filing fee in installments. The case law on § 1930(f)(1) applies a “totality-of-circumstanees” approach to the waiver decision, focusing mainly on ability to pay. This case holds that bad bankruptcy conduct may suffice to defeat a fee waiver for an otherwise-eligible debtor. It also draws attention to the role of the discharge suspension mandated by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 4004(c)(1)(G) as a fee collection device, in lieu of dismissing the case.

The pro se debtor, a disbarred bankruptcy attorney, was the debtor in four prior chapter 7 cases during the past three years, each of which was dismissed because he did not attend the meeting of creditors. In those cases, he ran up $931 in unpaid bankruptcy filing fees. He did not identify those cases in his petition or in his fee-waiver applications and did not include the $931 in unpaid fees in his schedules. For these reasons, the filing fee will not be waived.

This fee waiver denial, however, does not necessarily deny bankruptcy relief…