Lynda A. Hooper

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
In re
LYNDA A. HOOPER,
Debtor.
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Case No. 06-00029
(Chapter 7)
ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION FOR WAIVER OF FILING FEE
On January 30, 2006, the debtor filed an Application for
Waiver of the Chapter 7 Filing Fee for Individuals Who Cannot Pay
the Filing Fee in Full or in Installments (Docket Entry “DE” No.
9). Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1930 as amended by § 418 of the
Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention & Consumer Protection Act of 2005,
Pub. L. 109-8 (effective October 17, 2005), this court
may waive the filing fee in a case under
chapter 7 of title 11 for an individual if
the court determines that such individual has
income less than 150 percent of the income
official poverty line . . . applicable to a
family of the size involved and is unable to
pay that fee in installments.
28 U.S.C. § 1930(f)(1).
The debtor’s application states that there are five members
of her household, and that she has monthly expenses totaling
The order below is hereby signed.
Signed: February 23, 2006.
_____________________________
S. Martin Teel, Jr.
United States Bankruptcy Judge
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1 Section 1930(f) specifies that the “official poverty
line” figures used for purposes of the chapter 7 fee waiver refer
to those “defined by the Office of Management and Budget [“OMB”],
and revised annually in accordance with [§] 673(2) of the Omnibus
Reconciliation Act of 1981 . . . .” The Judicial Conference of
the United States interprets this language to refer to the
poverty guidelines maintained annually by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (“HHS”) because the OMB has never
issued poverty guidelines or thresholds.
2
$1,281.16. With respect to income, however, the debtor first
indicates that her family has a total combined monthly income of
$804.93, as reported on line 16 of Schedule I, yet in the space
provided on the application to offer additional information
explaining why the debtor is unable to pay the filing fee in
installments, the debtor indicates that she earns $1699.17 per
month. The figure of $804.93 was arrived at by subtracting the
debtor’s stated payroll deductions from her monthly gross wages,
whereas the debtor’s reference to $1699.17 in monthly income does
not appear to take those stated deductions into account. Even
assuming that the larger of the two income figures provided by
the debtor is correct, the debtor’s annual income would amount to
$20,390.04, which falls below the $23,400 poverty line
established for a family of 5 by under the 2006 Health & Human
services Poverty Guidelines.1
The debtor has likewise demonstrated an inability to pay the
filing fee in installments. Notwithstanding the inconsistencies
on her application, it is apparent from her schedules that the
debtor has a monthly income of $1699.17, less payroll deductions
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2 Her recently filed employee income record shows that the
wage assignment was $152.10 in her last pay statement. The court
assumes that the wage assignment was for a nondischargeable debt
for alimony, maintenance or support excepted from the automatic
stay (otherwise the debtor would not have continued to keep the
wage assignment in place in light of the automatic stay of 11
U.S.C. § 362(a)). There was also an “allotment” of $141.00 which
was presumably her monthly car payment. Her year-to-date
retirement payments after receiving compensation for work through
the pay period ending January 21, 2006, were only $79.47.
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of $894.24, which includes payroll taxes and social security,
insurance, union dues, retirement, wage assignment, and car note
payments, plus additional monthly expenses of $1281.16, leaving
the debtor with no disposable monthly income.2
Finally, the debtor's attorney has filed this case without
any agreement to receive compensation. This suggests that the
debtor indeed is so strapped that she will not be able to pay
either a filing fee or attorney's fees in installments.
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that the debtor’s Application for Waiver of the
Chapter 7 Filing Fee (DE No. 9) is GRANTED
[Signed and dated above.]
Copies to: Debtor; Chapter 7 Trustee; Office of U.S. Trustee.
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