Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Wisconsin

We filed a Chapter 7 BK in December. It was discharged in April. For one of the debts included and discharged (for a home we surrendered) we have come under constant contact from the creditor (Bank of America), via telephone (nights and weekends) and mail (4 fed ex packages to date). On May 22nd, they called our home 3 times. I finally got a supervisor on the phone and explained to her that this debt was included in the BK and discharged and that they were prohibited from calling us regarding it. She said she would make note of it. 5 days later we received an overnight Fed-ex package and the calls started up again this week, starting on Monday.

I know they are violating Section 524 of the Bankruptcy Code, I informed them of that fact but they are still persisting. I have given them the chance to stop but they have not. Before retaining an attorney I would like to know if the recovery would be worth the expense and what kind of threshold we need to meet to make or claim. Thanks.


Asked on 6/04/10, 10:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

JAY Nixon nixon law offices

You are correct; this should not be happening unless Bank of America has either obtained an order lifting the stay or your case has been closed without a discharge ( which has the same effect). Since you were discharged in April, your case is probably closed, so there is no longer a stay but a "permanent injunction" against the creditor (unless discharge was disallowed for some reason on their debt), which should protect you in the same manner as the stay. For home mortgage debt or any other secured debt, this means that the creditor can only commence "in rem" proceedings to take back their collateral and cannot sue you personally and attempt to garnishee your wages. While they do have the right (and a requirement) to serve you with this lawsuit, your liability other than being served should be nothing unless you have somehow incurred additional liabilities since bankruptcy such as, for example, utilities on the property. You therefore need to make sure that your utilities are shut off and out of your name if this has not already been done. If they are making only routine collector calls to you and the bank was indeed properly discharged in your bankruptcy, you should be able to obtain reimbursement from them for any reasonable attorney fees which you incurred in making them stop. This means that it would be worthwhile to get an attorney. I could not begin to intelligently advise you, however, whether it is worth it or not without reviewing all the documents in your case file so that I know the exact history. You would probably be best off simply speaking with the attorney who originally handled your case about this. My comments in this online forum are offered for public educational purposes only and are not legal advice, nor do they create any attorney/client relationship between us. However, I may be able to formally represent you if you contact my Racine office and make arrangements to retain me. I also represent clients throughout WI.

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Answered on 6/05/10, 10:34 am


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