Collection Calls and Creditor Harassment

The Los Angeles Bankruptcy Firm is committed to reducing the stress in your life brought on by financial hardship, including collection calls, intimidating letters, and harassment by creditors contacting your employer or showing up at your workplace.

The Automatic Stay

Once a bankruptcy is filed, an automatic stay begins. The automatic stay applies to every creditor across the board, from bill collectors to the bank which is trying to foreclose on your home.  All attempts at debt collection stop once a bankruptcy is filed. A creditor must apply to the court to get relief from the stay.

Fair Debt Collection

Even outside of bankruptcy, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits debt collectors from certain harassing conduct, such as calls late at night and early in the morning and contact at the workplace.  However, the FDCPA has many hoops the consumer must jump through in order to receive protection under the Act.  Also, the FDCPA only applies to professional bill collectors and companies that buy delinquent debt; it doesn't regulate conduct by the original creditor, such as a doctor's office, retail store, or credit card company.

A bankruptcy filing, on the other hand, puts an immediate stop to all attempts at bill collection, including foreclosure and repossession.  Bankruptcy also has the advantage of dealing with all the creditors at once, rather than individually.  In a Chapter 13 plan, for instance, the creditors are forced to comply with an approved plan rather than continuing to harass the consumer for payment.

Collector Harassment

Credit card companies as a rule will never hassle you as long as you are paying some amount each month; they are perfectly happy to let the debt pile up.  Even after you stop charging on the card, late fees and penalties, along with interest rates up to 30% or more, combine to quickly escalate the balance far beyond your ability to pay.  Credit card companies have not been known to voluntarily write off debt, and will turn over delinquent accounts to bill collectors or sell their debt to professional collectors for pennies on the dollar. The new owners of the debt engage in harassment that even credit companies refuse to engage in. After obtaining a judgment, your creditors can garnish your wages, levy your bank accounts, or put a lien on your property.

The Los Angeles Bankruptcy Firm is knowledgeable in putting an end to creditor harassment and obtaining relief for the consumer through Chapter 7, Chapter 11, or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  For immediate assistance in putting a stop to collection calls and creditor harassment, contact us today.