USBC WDMI Obtaining Copies of Documents

Options to Obtaining Copies of Documents
  1. Email – The court can email copies to you.  Payment is required in advance.  The fee for copies made by court staff is $0.50 per page.  Requests must be made by filing out a Copy Request form and then mailed to the court with payment.  To determine the number of pages for copies, you may contact the court by calling (616) 456-2693, M-F, 8AM – 4PM or by emailing MIWB_CaseInfo@miwb.uscourts.gov.

  2. U.S. Postal Mail – The court can mail copies to you.  Payment is required in advance.  The fee for copies made by court staff is $0.50 per page.  Requests must be made by filing out a Copy Request form and then mailed to the court with payment.  To determine the number of pages for copies, you may contact the court by calling (616) 456-2693, M-F, 8AM – 4PM or by emailing MIWB_CaseInfo@miwb.uscourts.gov.

  3. FAX – The court can fax copies to you.  Payment is required in advance.  The fee for copies made by court staff is $0.50 per page.  Requests must be made by filing out a Copy Request form and then mailed to the court with payment.  To determine the number of pages for copies, you may contact the court by calling (616) 456-2693, M-F, 8AM – 4PM or by emailing MIWB_CaseInfo@miwb.uscourts.gov.

  4. Internet – Documents, which have been electronically imaged, can be accessed on the internet via the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) program.  For information about PACER registration, please contact PACER Service Center.  

Please Note: Access to documents in cases filed before December 1, 2003, and which have been closed for more than a year may be restricted in PACER. Documents in these cases may be viewed via the Internet only by parties in the case who have a separate CM/ECF login issued by U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan. (Generally these otherwise restricted documents may be viewed at the public computer terminals in the Clerk's Office) 

 

Clerk’s Office

Copies of documents in pending files may be obtained by visiting the clerk’s office.  Documents can be printed from the court’s Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) system from one of several public computers in the clerk’s office lobby.  The fee for copies of documents printed from one of these public computers is $0.10 per page.

Certified Copies

Copies may be certified in one of two ways:  1) with a raised seal or 2) with an ink stamp.  Copies certified with a raised seal will only be returned to requestors via the U.S. Postal Mail.  Certified copies made with an ink stamp can be obtained via mail, fax or email.   The fee for certified documents is $11.00 plus $0.50 per page.  Requests for certified copies must be made by filing out a Copy Request form and then mailed to the court with payment.

Archived Documents

Documents from certain older cases have been stored with the Federal Records Center (FRC). There are two ways to request copies of documents from archived files:

  1. The least expensive option is to order directly from the FRC. Please be sure to first contact the court for specific location information about the files.  Once this information is acquired, you may request copies from the FRC by completing and mailing an FRC Request Form to the FRC or by making the request on-line.  Please refer to the FRC website for information on fees.

  2. The second option is to have the archived file delivered to the court for viewing. Send to the court a Closed Case Request form with method of payment.  The cost to order an archived file is $53.00 and $0.50 per page for any copies.  You will be notified by the court when the file arrives.  Please allow 10 business days for the file to be delivered to the court.

Payment Options
  1. Money order or cashier’s check

  2. Personal check

  3. Cash – cash will only be accepted when visiting the clerk’s office; please do not mail cash to the court.

  4. Credit card – Please fill out a Credit Card Authorization form and either mail, fax or email the form along with a Copy Request form to the court for processing. 

    *    Credit cards and personal checks will not be accepted by debtor(s) whose case is not yet closed.

**Please make checks/money orders payable to “Clerk, US Bankruptcy Court”. 

Contact Information for Copy Requests

US Bankruptcy Court
Western District of Michigan
One Division Avenue, North, Room 200
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Phone:  (616) 456-2693
FAX:  (616) 456-2083

Email:  MIWB_CaseInfo@miwb.uscourts.gov