Eric Leroy Wiggins

1 	The court’s prior order to show cause (Docket Entry
(“DE”) No. 30, entered August 7, 2008), directed Ms. Brooke to
either file a disclosure of compensation or to appear at a
hearing before the court on September 3, 2008, to show cause why
any fees she has received in connection with this case ought not
be disgorged. 	Ms. Brooke having filed a disclosure of
compensation, the court’s prior order to show cause (DE No. 30)
was discharged and the September 3, 2008 hearing was cancelled.
UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
In re
ERIC LEROY WIGGINS,
Debtor.
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Case No. 08-00389
(Chapter 13)
Not for Publication in
West’s Bankruptcy Reporter
MEMORANDUM DECISION RE REDUCING PETITION PREPARER’S FEE
On August 20, 2008, the petition preparer in this case,
Cheryl Brooke, filed a disclosure of compensation stating that
she has agreed to accept a fee of $1,199.00 from the debtor. 1
This is an exceptionally high fee, yet Ms. Brooke’s fee
disclosure failed to provide any information about the documents
she prepared or the services she provided. 	Without more, the
court had no way to evaluate the reasonableness of this fee.
Accordingly, on August 27, 2008, the court issued an order to Ms.
The Memorandum Decision below is hereby signed.
Dated: September 25, 2008.
_____________________________
S. Martin Teel, Jr.
United States Bankruptcy Judge
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Brooke directing that it was:
ORDERED that, by September 3, 2008, Ms. Brooke is
directed to show cause, if any she has, by a writing
filed with this court, why her fee ought not be reduced
as unreasonable. 	It is further
ORDERED that unless the court is satisfied with
Ms. Brooke’s response and discharges this show cause
order in advance, Ms. Brooke shall appear at a hearing
before this court on September 10, 2008, at 9:30 a.m.,
to address the reasonableness of her fee.
Ms. Brooke failed to comply with either provision of the order,
having submitted no writing to show why her fee ought not be
reduced, and having failed to appear at today’s hearing.
In the absence of any evidence as to the work she performed,
I must assume that she acted only as a scrivener, merely typing
information that the debtor provided to her. 	Moreover, according
to Ms. Brooke’s Form B19 Declaration, she was involved only with
the preparation of the voluntary petition, Exhibit D, the
application to pay filing fee in installments, the statement of
social security number, and the creditor matrix with
verification. 	If the reason for the high fee she charged was
that she was providing the debtor with legal guidance as to what
ought to go on the papers filed in the case, that would
constitute the unauthorized practice of law, and she ought not be
compensated for that type of work. 	I will accordingly reduce her
fee to $75.00 as a reasonable fee for typing up the voluntary
petition, Exhibit D, the application to pay filing fee in
installments, the statement of social security number, and the
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2 	The court notes that Ms. Brooke’s disclosure of
compensation states that, prior to the filing of the statement,
Ms. Brooke has not received any of the fee charged. 	On the other
hand, Ms. Brooke checked the box indicating that “[t]he source of
the compensation paid to me was: [the] Debtor,” which suggests
that Ms. Brooke may have already received some amount of the fee
from the debtor. 	In any event, the fee disclosure having been
filed on August 20, 2008, it is possible that Ms. Brooke has
since collected some or all of the fee.
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creditor matrix with verification in this case. 	Ms. Brooke shall
not be entitled to collect any amount in excess of $75.00, and to
the extent Ms. Brooke has already received payment in excess of
$75.00, I will direct disgorgement of such amounts. 2
An order follows providing that Ms. Brooke shall not be
entitled to collect a fee in connection with this case in excess
of $75.00, and directing Ms. Brooke to file a statement with the
court within 21 days after entry of the order verifying what
amounts of the fee she has collected.
[Signed and dated above.]
Copies to: Debtor; Chapter 13 Trustee; Office of U.S. Trustee;
and:
Cheryl Brooke
PO Box 1147
Bowie, MD 20774
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