In Re: Craig Clinton Rominger and Heidi Kay Rominger

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 9 10 In Re: CASE NO. 2:25-cv-02143-LK 11 CRAIG CLINTON ROMINGER and ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 12 HEIDI KAY ROMINGER, WAIVE APPEAL FILING FEE 13 Appellants/Debtors. 14 15 16 This matter comes before the Court on pro se Appellants Craig and Heidi Rominger’s 17 Motion to Waive Appeal Filing Fee. Dkt. No. 1-1 at 33–35. The Romingers are appealing the final 18 judgment denying their discharge in bankruptcy under 11 U.S.C. § 727. Id. at 34. They ask the 19 Court for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) and “for waiver of the filing fees associated 20 with their Notice of Appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1930(f)(1) and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy 21 Procedure 8003(a)(3).” Id. at 33. 22 A notice of an appeal from U.S. Bankruptcy Court must be “accompanied by the prescribed 23 filing fee.” Fed. R. Bankr. P. 8003(a)(3). The fee to file an appeal is $298. See Bankruptcy Court 24 Miscellaneous Fee Schedule, https://www.uscourts.gov/court-programs/fees/bankruptcy-court- 1 miscellaneous-fee-schedule (last visited November 10, 2025) (setting forth a fee of $293 to file an 2 appeal from a bankruptcy judgment, which is “collected in addition to the statutory fee of $5 that 3 is collected under 28 U.S.C. § 1930(c) when a notice of appeal is filed”). Although the Romingers 4 cite 28 U.S.C. § 1930(f)(1) as the basis to waive the fee here, Dkt. No. 1-1 at 33, that section is 5 inapplicable because they are not asking to waive the original filing fee, 28 U.S.C. § 1930(f)(1), 6 see In re Greenfield, No. 19-20785-NGH, 2021 WL 2389279, at *2 (Bankr. D. Idaho June 10, 7 2021) (noting that “28 U.S.C. § 1930(f)(1) applies to fees associated with the commencement of a 8 chapter 7 case”). However, the Romingers can seek a waiver of the appellate fees under 28 U.S.C. 9 § 1930(f)(2) or (f)(3), see id., and subsection (f)(3) permits district courts to waive fees “in 10 accordance with Judicial Conference policy[.]” In turn, Section 820.40(a) of the Guide to Judiciary 11 Policy permits courts to waive the appeal fee “in the discretion of the court, for an individual debtor 12 whose filing fee has been waived, or for whom the totality of circumstances during the pendency 13 of the case and appeal warrant such waiver upon request.” See Guide to Judiciary Policy, 14 https://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/judiciary-policies/bankruptcy-case-policies, § 820.40(a) 15 (last visited November 10, 2025); see also id. at § 820.40(c) (noting that alternatively, a debtor can 16 move to waive the filing fee by meeting the eligibility standard in Section 820.20(a)(1), which 17 permits a district court to waive the chapter 7 appeal fee for an individual debtor who “has income 18 less than 150 percent of the income official poverty line applicable to a family of the size 19 involved[] and . . . is unable to pay that fee in installments”). “The debtor bears the burden of 20 proving by a preponderance of the evidence that his or her circumstances satisfy the requirements 21 of the fee waiver provision.” In re Brazier, No. C17-1526JLR, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188402, at 22 *3 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 14, 2017). 23 Here, the Romingers were not proceeding IFP before the Bankruptcy Court, see Dkt. No. 24 1-1 at 2 (noting receipt of filing fee), and their motion does not include any evidence about their 1 financial circumstances, see generally id. at 33–35. Accordingly, they have not shown that they 2 are entitled to a fee waiver. 3 For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES the Romingers’ Motion to Waive Appeal 4 Filing Fee. Dkt. No. 1-1 at 33–35. Within 14 days of the date of this Order, the Romingers must 5 either pay the filing fee or file an amended motion to waive the fee that supplies the necessary 6 information and a proposed installment payment schedule. If the Romingers do not timely pay the 7 fee or file an amended motion, the Court will close this appeal. 8 The Clerk is directed to mail a copy of this Order to the Romingers at their last known 9 address, along with the form Declaration and Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis and 10 Written Consent for Payment of Costs. 11 Dated this 13th day of November, 2025. 12 A 13 Lauren King United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24