Can you hear me now? Or now? And later? One of the biggest complaints our clients have and what frequently drives them to contact us for relief are the constant phone calls. Debt collectors are restrained under the Fair Debt Collection Act from making contact except under named circumstances, which the act generally restricts to be before 8:00 o’clock at night and after 9:00 in the morning. Debt collectors are also prohibited from repeated contact where it may be construed to be engaging any person in telephone conversation repeatedly or continuously with intent to annoy, abuse, or harass any person at the called number. But do debt collectors always play by the rules? I’m sure there are many honest debt collectors out there, but there seem to be an abundance that engage in activity that clearly violates the Act. Threatening phone calls and text messages at all hours and verbal threats of criminal prosecution and worse seem to be growing.
A bankruptcy petition invokes the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C §362 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which in plain language means creditors must cease contact and stop all collection procedures. The automatic stay also stops the harassing phone calls unless the creditor wants to proceed at risk to their wallet. It may take a day or two for the notices to creditors to issue from the Bankruptcy Court Clerk’s Office, but in order to speed the process we frequently send notices directly to creditors as soon as we have a case number.
The Bankruptcy Court takes violations of the automatic stay very seriously when creditors persist in contacting a Debtor, and our office may file a Motion for Contempt against the creditor to stop further contact. The Court frequently awards attorney fees and costs for enforcing the automatic stay, and “educated” creditors know this and will leave our clients alone.
If you have been the subject of bullying by a creditor for enforcement of a debt, contact one of our Nashville Bankruptcy Lawyers and we will advise how we can help.
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