Effective January 1, 2012, the presumptively reasonable fee that a bankruptcy petition preparer in the Eastern District of Wisconsin is allowed to charge or collect will be capped at $75 per case. The $75 fee includes all services provided by a non-attorney for assisting a debtor in preparing the petition, schedules, statements, applications and other required documents for a bankruptcy case.
If a bankruptcy petition preparer believes that the value of his or her services in a particular case exceeds $75, that bankruptcy petition preparer will be required to file, along with the Disclosure of Compensation of Bankruptcy Petition Preparer (Form B280), an affidavit or declaration under penalty of perjury, explaining why the preparer believes that the services in that case were worth more than $75. The court will review that affidavit or declaration, and determine whether to allow a fee in excess of $75.
Any bankruptcy petition preparer who, without obtaining court approval, charges or collects a fee in excess of $75 will be required to refund the excess to the debtor. If the petition preparer does not refund the excess fee to the debtor, the petition preparer will face additional sanctions.
For more information and additional regulations concerning bankruptcy petition preparers, see Title 11 U.S.C. § 110.