Case number: 5:26-bk-50371 - JSM Properties, LLC - Connecticut Bankruptcy Court

ORDER DISMISSING CHAPTER 11 CASE FOR FAILURE TO PAY FILING FEE. On May 22, 2026, JSM Properties LLC (the "Debtor") filed a Chapter 11 voluntary petition and an Application to Pay Filing Fees in Installments (the "Application," ECF No. 2). The Debtor did not use Official Form 103A—Application for Individuals to Pay the Filing Fee in Installments—when it sought to pay the Chapter 11 case filing fee in installments. Official Form 103A is to be used only by individuals and not a corporate entity, such as the Debtor. Only an "individual" debtor may seek to pay the filing fee in installments pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006(b)(1) and 28 U.S.C. § 1930, and on its face, Official Form 103A can only be used by individual debtors. See, e.g., In re Balance Life Better Enhancement Corp., No. 25-41075, 2025 WL 428390, at *1 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. Feb. 6, 2025); In re Glover, No. 13-12445, 2014 WL 688095, at *7 n.4 (Bankr. S.D. Ga. Feb. 19, 2014); see also In re Chateaugay Corp., 920 F.2d 183,186–87 (2d Cir. 1990) (holding that corporations or artificial entities are not "individual[s]" under section 362(h)).

The nature of the responsibilities and obligations of a debtor in a Chapter 11 case are extensive, see e.g., 11 U.S.C. § 1107. If a Chapter 11 case filing fee cannot be paid upon filing of the petition, the case is not likely sustainable. Because: (i) Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006(a) provides "[u]nless (b) or (c) applies, every petition must be accompanied by the filing fee;" (ii) the Debtor is a limited liability company and therefore Fed. R. Bankr. P. 1006(b) and (c) do not apply; (iii) the Chapter 11 petition filed by the Debtor was not accompanied by the filing fee, it is hereby

ORDERED: The Debtor's case is DISMISSED for the failure of the Debtor to pay the Chapter 11 case filing fee of $1,738.00 upon filing of the petition. Signed by Judge Julie A. Manning on May 26, 2026.