Looking back as far as 2018, I do see that $38 mandatory reorganization fee popping up in my Ameritrade account. I've definitely had the pleasure of being assessed that fee by different brokers over the years, but I was surprised to see it was up to $38 these days. So it was at that rate way before they went commission free.
I agree, those fees usually are adding insult to injury!
I have seen lots of $1 stocks with strong earnings and solid balance sheets triple, quadruple and more, but I have yet to see one go below zero.