The Automatic Stay: A Saving Grace in Bankruptcy

Tens of thousands of Americans struggle with credit card debt, medical expenses, mortgages and other bills each day. Many of those people have been contacted by creditors in increasingly predatory and harassing ways about late and delinquent payments. Many businesses have probably even turned your unpaid and deficient amounts over to a collections agency. Many of these collections agencies contact you at the most inconvenient times or in the most inconvenient places such as your work, or at dinner time after a long day away from your family.  They are often ruthless in hounding you and over time may become more and more aggressive towards you in an attempt to collect from you. The best way to stop all of these harassing collection attempts is to file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy will stop all collection attempts while your attorney works out the details of your debts with the trustee, this is called the automatic stay.

The best thing about a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is the automatic stay.  The automatic stay is issued to your creditors once your bankruptcy case is filed in the courts. When meeting with your attorney it is extremely important to include a complete and total list of who your creditors are, their address and phone number and how much you owe them in your bankruptcy petition. Doing this will ensure that these agencies receive notice to stop attempting to collect on your debt and to leave you alone. Once the automatic stay is in place, collection agencies can’t contact you, they must stop garnishing your wages and can no longer initiate or pursue lawsuits. Many of our clients often feel a deep sense of relief their case is filed and the threatening collector calls stop.

During, before and after the automatic stay bill collectors are also banned from taking certain actions including making threats, calling you at extremely late or very early hours, using profane language, increasing debts beyond the terms of the contract and threatening to have you arrested if you don’t pay their balance. These are protections afforded to you by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. If you feel that your right have been violated or you are tired of receiving the harassing phone calls and letters, being served with lawsuits or having your hard earned wages garnished, call one of the experienced attorneys at Harmon and Gorove.  They can help you find the right debt relief options for your situation and customize a plan to help get you out of debt for good. We offer convenient appointments and our consultations are ALWAYS free.