When a consumer files bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court warns creditors they may face a lawsuit awarding damages and attorney’s fees unless all debt collection stops. The technical term for failing to do so is violating the “automatic stay.’ As it sounds, this protection takes effect automatically. It is intended to provide some ‘breathing space’ from creditors hounding debtors for money they no longer have. The discharge issued at the end of a case makes this billing prohibition permanent for most debts. Given the bailout banks enjoyed at taxpayer expense, one would expect they wouldn’t begrudge a consumer the only bailout available to the ‘little guy’ – that of filing bankruptcy. For some creditors though, paying a penalty for ignoring these protections is just part of the cost of doing business. EMC Mortgage has been ordered to pay punitive damages on four separate occasions for its ‘willful’ and repeated violations of the the stay and discharge injunctions. In re Gagliardi, 290 B.R. 808 (Bankr.D.Colo. 2003); Curtis v. EMC Mortgage, 322 B.R. 470 (Bankr.D.Mass.2005); In re: Castro, 08-01135 (Bankr.D.N.C. 2008); Harlan v. EMC Mortgage, 402 B.R. 703 (Bankr.W.D.Va.2009). The New Hampshire Bankruptcy Court takes this kind of harassment very seriously. If you’ve filed bankruptcy and continue to be harassed, make sure you contact a lawyer.
