Make It Happen Affordable Homes LLC

Opinion

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION In re: Case No. 25-41843 MAKE IT HAPPEN AFFORDABLE HOMES LLC, Chapter 11

Judge Thomas J. Tucker Debtor. __________________________________/ ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR REFUND OF FILING FEE This closed Chapter 11 case is before the Court on a motion filed on July 23, 2025 by Yvonne Cross, entitled “Motion for Refund of Filing Fee Paid In Error” (Docket # 10, the “Motion”). The $1,738.00 filing fee at issue1 was paid on February 26, 2025, when Ms. Cross caused a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition to be filed, purportedly on behalf of Make It Happen Affordable Homes LLC, commencing this case. This case was dismissed by this Court, sua sponte, however, by an Order entered on February 26, 2025 (Docket # 7). As the dismissal order explained, this case was dismissed because the bankruptcy petition was signed only by Yvonne Cross, who is not an attorney, rather than by any attorney for the named Debtor, which is a limited liability company. This dismissed case was closed on March 3, 2025. The Motion was filed without the Movant having first sought and obtained an order reopening this case, and the Motion was filed almost five months after this case was dismissed. The Motion seeks a refund of the filing fee, on the grounds that the Movant filed the bankruptcy petition in error, that the bankruptcy filing was not valid, and that the Clerk should not have accepted the case for filing and should not have accepted the filing fee. When the Movant presented the Clerk’s office with the bankruptcy petition for filing, the 1 The filing fee required when a Chapter 11 case is filed is $1,738.00. Clerk’s office had no authority to refuse the filing. The same is true with respect to the Movant’s causing the filing fee to be paid; the Clerk’s office had no authority to refuse that payment. In fact, the filing fee was due to be paid when the petition was filed. See Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006(a). The Motion must be denied, for the following reasons: (1) the Movant is not the Debtor, nor is she an attorney for the Debtor, and therefore the Movant may not file a motion on behalf of the Debtor, which is a limited liability company;? (2) the Movant lacks standing in her individual capacity to seek a refund of the filing fee in this bankruptcy case filed by the Debtor LLC; and (3) in any event, the Court does not have authority to order a refund of the filing fee that was paid for this case, even if the case was filed in error, for the reasons explained by the bankruptcy court in the case of In re Alderman, No. 22-60760, 2022 WL 17683689 (Bankr. N.D. Ohio Dec. 14, 2022). IT IS ORDERED that the Motion (Docket # 10) is denied.

Signed on July 24, 2025 Je, □□ > /s/ Thomas J. Tucker

_ a United States Bankruptcy Judge

° This was explained in the Court’s Order dismissing this case (Docket # 7).