by The Judicial Conference for the United States has approved several changes to the federal court miscellaneous fee schedules including a new administrative fee for motions to sell property under section 363(f) of the Bankruptcy Code. Section 363(f) allows estate assets to be sold free and clear of liens and encumbrances. The committee rejected the idea of a sliding fee connected to the price of the property being sold, and settled on a flat fee of $176.00. The new fee will take effect December 1, 2013.
In instituting the new fee, the Judicial Conference is apparently taking advantage of the increasing trend in chapter 11 toward sale of businesses rather than restructuring. According to Jacqueline Palank of the Wallstreet Journal blog “Bankruptcy Beat,” this move comes in the face of a looming judicial budget crisis. A small percentage of operating funds comes from fees that the federal courts charge, and bankruptcy filing fees generate about 79% of the judicial operating funds that come from federal court fees in general. Where Congress appropriates most of the federal judiciary’s operating funds, recent government budget cuts negatively impact the judiciary. In his blog on the fee change, Cooley, LLP attorney, Robert L. Eisenbach, III, predicts that the new fee in this area could show significant revenue increase from chapter 11 cases. To a lesser extent, the change will impact chapter 7 as well.