One of the most stressful situations that my client’s are facing or have faced prior to the filing of their bankruptcy case, is the constant harrassing phone calls and correspondence that they are receiving from their creditors. Many of my clients have ceased answering their phones or have turned them off altogether. Other clients tell me that they can’t bear to open their mail and either just throw out their mail as it comes or keep it unopened in boxes or bags.
Most people put up with this constant harassment for months, let their stress levels reach huge levels and have months of sleepless nights before they consider filing a bankruptcy. Most people let these creditors intimidate them into thinking they have no options and no hope.
However, the truth is that you don’t have to live like this and you do have options. Bankruptcy is a way to put a stop to the harassment. When you file your bankruptcy petition, you receive the instant benefit of the Automatic Stay. Upon filing, notice is sent to all of your creditors, upon receipt of this notice your creditors are no longer permitted to contact you in any manner. This means that your creditors cannot call you, they cannot send you letters or statments, they cannot file a law suit against you or continue with a law suit that is already in place, nor can they continue to attempt to collect on a judgment they may have received against you and they can no longer report negatively on your credit. If any of your creditors do continue to attempt to collect money from you outside of the bankruptcy, in violation of the automatic stay, they would be subject to sanctions imposed by the Bankruptcy Court.
In essence, all of the madness stops the minute you file your bankruptcy petition. The silence will be deafening. The number one comment I hear from clients after our initial meeting is that they will finally be able to sleep again. The reason being is that a large part of their stress will be relieved. The stress which is related to the constant harrassment they have been receiving from creditors. Once that stress has been relieved and the quiet has been restored it allows my clients to focus on getting back on track financially.
