CAN CREDITOR HARASSMENT BE STOPPED?
When a person gets behind on his debts, creditors have the right to begin
collection action.
It usually starts with phone calls at home or work and sometimes to family and
neighbors. As you can imagine, this can very embarrassing.
If you have any co signers on the debts, are contacted.
While there is federal law that makes unfair collection practice illegal,
collection agents will make your life miserable through legal and sometimes
illegal intimidation.
Secured creditor can take whatever legal action needed to repossess their
collateral which may be you car or other personal property.
If you owe income tax, the IRS can garnish your wages and clean out you bank
account with very little warning.
Finally law suits resulting injudgements will be filed against you.
Bankruptcy is relief and protection.
From the moment a Bankruptcy petition is clocked in at the courthouse there is
an automatic injunction or "Stay" that goes into effect. From that
moment, creditors must stop all attempts to collect from you. The Court will
send out notices to all the creditors. Once a creditor is on notice that a
bankruptcy has been filed, they must stop. They cannot sue you; if they have
already filed suit, they must stop it. They cannot foreclose against your house,
garnish wages, repossess cars, or even call you on the phone at home or at work.
If they do, they are in contempt of Court.
The whole idea of bankruptcy in the American system to stop all collection
action and allow the bankruptcy process to sort things out logically.
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