Debtors Eye Refund as They Look to Advance Bankruptcy Fee Feud

A simmering legal dispute over a temporary increase in government fees required in Chapter 11 cases has some bankrupt debtors vying for refunds.

Debtors’ fees fund the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program, which monitors the bankruptcy proceedings in 48 states and the U.S. territories. Alabama and North Carolina are the exception, and run a different bankruptcy system.

Congress hiked U.S. Trustee Program quarterly fees starting in 2018 for debtors that filed for bankruptcy in the districts that participate in the program. With no corresponding fee hike in Alabama and North Carolina, there was a disparity in the first nine months ...