Dealing with creditors is stressful. Collection letters and harassing phone calls only seems to make a difficult time worse. Luckily, the bankruptcy process can help.
Court Ordered
One of the best perks to the bankruptcy process is how it handles your creditors. When you file for bankruptcy, the court issues an automatic stay. This order halts all collection efforts by your creditors and even prohibits them from contact you. Foreclosures, repossession, wage garnishments and other collection efforts are all stopped when the order is issued. Your creditors will not be able to make further collection attempts and will, instead, be required to adhere to the decision or plan of the bankruptcy court. Creditors that do not follow the guidelines outlined by the automatic stay may even be fined or face further consequences.
Even better, your Tampa bankruptcy attorney acts as your mediator in the bankruptcy process and fields all communications from your creditor. The protection offered under the automatic stay can be become permanent. Once your debts are discharged in Chapter 7, the order becomes permanent and any debts that are owed cannot be collected by creditors. Similarly, once you complete a Chapter 13 repayment plan in a Chapter 13 case, the automatic stay becomes permanent and debts are considered no longer collectible.