Effective May 15, 2017, chapter 13 trustees will again pay filing fee installments from pre-confirmation plan payments in cases where the debtor is authorized to pay the filing fee in installments.  The Court has vacated General Order 2017-2, which revoked the chapter 13 trustee’s authority to make the filing fee installments.

In order to accommodate concerns and business practices of the debtor bar, the chapter 13 trustees’ offices and the clerk’s office, the following procedures will apply as of May 15, 2017:

1. Chapter 13 installment cases filed prior to April 1, 2017, will be unaffected; the chapter 13 trustee will continue to make filing fee installment payments from pre-confirmation plan payments.
2. Counsel and debtors in chapter 13 installment cases filed from April 1, 2017, through May 15, 2017, may contact the chapter 13 trustee to discuss alternative arrangements for payment of the filing fee rather than tender payment directly to the clerk’s office.
3. In Chapter 13 installment cases filed on or after May 15, 2017, all filing fee installments are to be paid through the chapter 13 trustee’s office from pre-confirmation plan payments.  Chapter 13 debtors who present installment payments to the Clerk’s office will be directed to the chapter 13 trustee’s office.

In order to avoid duplicate payment or overpayment, debtor’s counsel are strongly encouraged to educate their clients on the importance of paying the filing fee installments through the chapter 13 trustee and not to the clerk’s office.

4. The trustee will hold pre-confirmation monies owing on the filing fee until the entire balance, currently $210, is available. The trustee will disburse the filing fee to the clerk’s office in a single payment. 
5. The clerk’s office will continue to monitor installment payments and issue a deficiency notice if the balance of the filing fee is not satisfied by 120 days from the filing of the petition.