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U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office for United States Trustees
Office of the General Counsel
____________________________________________________________________________________
441 G Street, N.W., Suite 6150 Voice - (202) 307-1399
Washington, DC 20530 Facsimile - (202) 307-2397
December 5, 2025
Via email only, read receipt requested:
cmn.p.a.g.p.b.h@gmail.com
Chris Magis Nero
1501 S. Cherrybell Strav., PMB 26096
Tucson, AZ 85726
Re: EOUST FOIA # 2026-1018
Dear Mr. Nero:
This letter responds to your un-dated request for records, which was received by the
United States Trustee Program (USTP) on December 1, 2025, and assigned the above-referenced
tracking number for processing under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Privacy Act
(PA), and related rules.
1 5 U.S.C. §§ 552 - 552a (2018); 28 C.F.R. Pt. 16. You appear to be
seeking records related to you, your bankruptcy cases, and your estate connected properties.
Please be advised that the FOIA only requires agencies to provide public access to
reasonably described, non-exempt agency records, and does not direct agencies to answer
narrative inquiries, create documents, or conduct legal research or investigations in response to
FOIA requests.
2
The USTP is a component of the Department of Justice responsible for overseeing the
administration of bankruptcy cases and private bankruptcy estate trustees.3 The USTP does not
maintain the records of any other component within the Department of Justice, court records, or
the records of any other federal or state agency. The FOIA contact for each component within
the United States Department of Justice, as well as at other federal agencies, may be found at
https://www.foia.gov/#agency-search.
1 The Executive Office for United States Trustees is the central FOIA processing unit for the United States Trustee
Program, a Department of Justice component charged with bankruptcy oversight. 28 U.S.C. § 586; cf . 28 C.F.R.
§ 16.3(a) (“FOIA request[s] . . . will be considered received as of the date . . . received by the proper component’s
FOIA office”).
2 See Amnesty Int’l v. CIA, No. 07-5435, 2008 WL 2519908, at *12-13 (S.D.N.Y. June 19, 2008) (rejecting claim
that agency has duty to compile list of persons it deems subjects of “secret detention” and search for records related
to them in order to respond to request for “secret detention” records because, in essence, request seeks answer to
question), and Stuler v. IRS, No. 05-1717, 2006 WL 891073, at *3 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 31, 2006) (stating that agency “is
not required to create documents that don’t exist”).
3 See, e.g., 11 U.S.C. § 101, et seq.; 28 U.S.C. § 586.
2 The Executive Office for United States Trustees (EOUST) has adopted a multi-track processing system. Based upon the description of the records you seek, the EOUST has determined that your request should be classified as a complex request. 28 C.F.R. § 16.5(b). Requests processed in this track typically take more time to process than those processed as simple requests. If you wish, you may narrow the scope of your request so that it meets the criteria for simple requests. 4 The records you seek require a search in the United States Trustee for Region 14, Phoenix, AZ field office, and so your request falls within “unusual circumstances.”5 Because of these unusual circumstances, the EOUST is extending the time limit to respond to your request for ten additional days as provided by the statute. The EOUST has not yet completed a search to determine whether there are records within the scope of your request. The time needed to process your request will necessarily depend on the complexity of the records search and on the volume and complexity of any records located. You may wish to narrow the scope of your request to limit the number of potentially responsive records or agree to an alternative time frame for processing should records be located; or you may wish to await the completion of our records search to discuss either of these options. Based upon the statutory standard for fee categories, Office of Management and Budget Fee Guidelines, Department of Justice regulations, and all of the information available to us, you have been categorized as an “all other” requester. 6 This means that you may be charged for the direct costs of searching for responsive records, as well as for the duplication of records.7 Requesters in the “all other” fee category are entitled to the first two hours of search time and the first 100 pages of duplication without cost. 8 As an “all other” fee category requester, you will be responsible for search fees at the following rates: $40.00 per hour for professional time, and $19.00 per hour for clerical/administrative time. Duplication costs are computed at $0.05 per page. Because you are willing to accept any records electronically, there will be no duplication costs. Please note, search fees may be incurred regardless of whether responsive records are located, or if it is determined that the records are entirely exempt from disclosure. 9 A fee commitment is required. While there will be no charge for requests in which fees are less than $25.00, an express fee commitment is required where fees may exceed $25.00.10 In 4 Criteria for classification as a “simple” FOIA request includes less than one hour of search time, less than two hours of reviewing and redacting, and less than 25 pages of responsive documents. 5 See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B)(i)-(iii) (2018). 6 See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(III) (2018). 7 See 28 C.F.R. § 16.11(c). 8 See 28 C.F.R. § 16.11(d). 9 See 28 C.F.R. § 16.10(c)(1)(i) (“Components may properly charge for time spent searching even if they do not locate any responsive records or if they determine that the records are entirely exempt from disclosure.”); see also Linn v. Department of Justice, No. 92-1406, 1995 WL 417810, at *13 (D.D.C. June 6, 1995) (holding that there is no entitlement to refund of search fees when search is unproductive). 10 See 28 C.F.R. § 16.10(d)(5).
3 addition, where fees may exceed $250.00, an advance payment will also be required before further processing a FOIA request.11 You may commit a specific amount, and if the EOUST determines that the fees will exceed the amount committed as your request is processed, you will be contacted before any further processing occurs. Alternatively, you may indicate that your fee commitment contains no fee cap, or contact our FOIA Service Center in order to reformulate the request to meet your needs at a lower cost. Nonetheless, please remit no payment prior to billing. Only a fee commitment is required at this time. Please note, even if an advance payment is not required, once the processing of your request is complete, any accrued processing fees will need to be paid before any responsive records will be released. Pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding between the EOUST and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), dated December 17, 2009, the EOUST may not provide FOIA requesters with data or documents obtained from the courts’ case management systems. The public may obtain court records in one of two ways. The first option is to obtain copies of court records through the Judiciary’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service at http://pacer.gov/. In order to access court records through PACER, users must register and obtain a username and password. In addition, users may incur a fee for accessing records through PACER. The second option is to access a court’s records from a public access terminal in the clerk of the court’s office. There is a fee for printing court records. Your request, as it currently stands, is not reasonably described. The DOJ regulations governing FOIA requests require a requester to “describe the records that you seek in enough detail to enable Department personnel to locate them with a reasonable amount of effort. Whenever possible, your request should include specific information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, author, recipient and subject matter of the record.” 28 C.F.R. § 16.3(b). Your request, as it currently stands, does not describe in sufficient detail the records that you seek such that they can be located with a reasonable effort. Therefore, unless you are able to provide additional information that allows us to conduct searches with a reasonable amount of effort; we will not be taking any further action on your request. With respect to your request for records, please: (a) specify the bankruptcy case numbers for the cases you are interested in receiving records on; (b) provide the temporal limits of your request (e.g. beginning and ending dates for search of records); and (c) more clearly define the exact records from your bankruptcy files that you are seeking. 11 See 28 C.F.R. § 16.10(e) (“When a component . . . estimates that the fees to be assessed . . . will exceed $25.00, [it] shall notify the requester . . . and further work will not be completed . . . until the re quester commits in writing to pay the … estimated fee . . .”); see also 28 C.F.R. § 16.10(i)(2) (“When a component determines or estimates that a total fee to be charged . . . will exceed $250.00, it may require . . . an advance payment up to the amount of the entire anticipated fee before beginning to process the request.”).
4
Please note, the larger and broader your request, the longer it will take us to process, and at a
greater cost to you. The more specific that you can make your request, the quicker your request
can be processed, and at a lower cost.
If you disagree with the determinations listed above, you may administratively appeal by
writing to the Director, Office of Information Policy (OIP), United States Department of Justice,
441 G Street, NW, 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20530, or you may submit an appeal through
OIP's FOIA STAR portal by creating an account following the instructions on OIP’s website:
https://www.justice.gov/oip/submit-and-track-request-or-appeal. Your appeal must be
postmarked or electronically transmitted within 90 days of the date of my response to your
request. If you submit your appeal by mail, both the letter and the envelope should be clearly
marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.” If possible, please provide a copy of your
original request and this letter with your appeal.
In addition to your right to an administrative appeal, you may contact the EOUST FOIA
Public Liaison regarding the contents of this letter by e-mail at
USTP.FOIA.Requests@usdoj.gov. Please mention the above-referenced FOIA tracking number
in any correspondence to the EOUST. Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government
Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire
about the FOIA mediation services they offer (https://www.archives.gov/ogis/mediation-
program/about-mediation-program). The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of
Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, Room 2510,
8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001; e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at
(202) 741-5770; toll free at (877) 684-6448; or facsimile at (202) 741-5769.
Once you have provided your fee commitment and clarifications, the EOUST will be able
to continue processing your request. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the
contents of this letter, or for FOIA status inquiries, you may contact our FOIA Service Center by
email at USTP.FOIA.Requests@usdoj.gov. Please mention the above-referenced tracking
number in any future correspondence to this office regarding this matter. If you do not respond
to this correspondence by January 21, 2026, we will assume you are no longer interested in
pursuing your FOIA request, and your case file will be closed.
Sincerely,
Randi Meth
FOIA Counsel