Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy

The automatic stay prevents most creditors, collection agencies or any other party seeking to collect a debt from you to contact you. By law, they must stop all collection attempts from you, this includes:

∙ Phone calls
∙ Letters
∙ Liens
∙ Wage garnishments
∙ Lawsuits
∙ Repossessions
∙ Shut off utilities or services
∙ Foreclosure process

The automatic stay goes into effect when you file your bankruptcy paperwork. It could take several days to several weeks for your creditors to be given notice about your bankruptcy from the court.

If you want your creditors to be notified sooner to get the collection attempts to stop, you can send out your own notice. If you send a letter to your creditors it should list:

∙ Your full name and address
∙ The date
∙ The creditor’s name and address
∙ The date you filed bankruptcy; you can also list the bankruptcy code 11 U.S.C. (ss find the right symbol) 362(a).

The automatic stay usually continues until the end of the confirmation hearing. At that point, you and your creditors are bound by the plan so there is no reason for your creditors to try to reach you.

If you would like more information on the automatic stay, contact a Sacramento bankruptcy lawyer to find out how you can get relief from your creditors.