Jacksonville Location (904) 419-7255
Jacksonville Location (904) 419-7255
Throughout Florida, creditor harassment is one of the major reasons people consider filing bankruptcy. Once you file bankruptcy, creditors are no longer allowed to contact you concerning your debt. If any creditor attempts to contact you by mail or by telephone while the bankruptcy is pending, it is a violation of the automatic stay. If a creditor listed in a bankruptcy discharge attempts to contact you after the discharge, it is considered to be a "discharge" violation. In either case, the Law Offices of Keith D. Collier serving Jacksonville will communicate with the creditor to ensure they have been properly informed of the bankruptcy.
An Automatic Stay in Jacksonville is a lawful injunction that halts your creditor's attempt to collect debts once you've filed bankruptcy under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Automatic Stay begins immediately when the bankruptcy petition is filed. This stay provides you with protection against debtor actions that allow you to avoid foreclosure, stop creditor harassment, halt judicial proceedings and prevent wage or bank garnishments. In certain instances, bankruptcy law does allow a secured creditor to seek relief from the automatic stay by filing a petition with the Court.
If debt harassment continues, your bankruptcy lawyer will sue the creditor in Federal Bankruptcy Court under an adversary proceeding which will force the creditor to stop all correspondence and possibly require the creditor to pay punitive damages, court costs and attorney fees. We do not charge our clients any additional bankruptcy fees to represent their case in an adversary proceeding. In addition, if the Federal Bankruptcy Court awards money for punitive damages, you will actually receive money for debt harassment in conjunction with your bankruptcy stay or discharge.
When your debt is sold to a third party collection agency and contact continues after notification, we will sue the creditor in Federal Court under "The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act" or FDCPA. This Act allows a person to sue a third-party collections agency if they attempt to collect a debt that has been discharged in a bankruptcy.
NOTE: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act also allows an individual to sue for other violations in instances where the individual has not filed for bankruptcy protection.