creditor violating auto stay

[kimsch72]

What is the name of your state? south carolina

we have a creditor that has violated the automatic stay 2 times by contacting us. they contacted us 10 minutes after we had sent them conformation that we had filed and not to contact us. they have also sent us a certified letter saying that we have 10 days to pay a debt that was included in the ch7. it was a check that was dishonored because we had large sum of money taken out of our paycheck. i had written the check on nov. 10 and they were holding the check till we got paid on the 1st of dec. they said this was a fraudulent act and they were going to file it with the magistrates office or pursue criminal restitution. can they do this. how do i file a contempt against them. we filed pro se. can they file a criminal suit against us for this check or is this in violation with the automatic stay.

 

[AttorneyOney]

Only a South Carolina attorney can tell you what you should do in this situation. What I do when one of my debtors gets dunned for a pre-petition debt is this: if I didn't schedule the creditor (and the only way that happens is if my client forgot and there was no line item in any of the credit reports), I tell them about the case. If a creditor contacts my client after that, or if they were scheduled and noticed, I'll file an adversary proceeding to seek damages under 362(h) almost immediately. The only question is how much the creditor will end up paying my client for their transgression(s). Many of my clients only file bankruptcy to gain some peace of mind, and stay violations rob them of that. So I have a very short fuse where stay and discharge violations are concerned.

It's too bad you're pro-se here. A good bankruptcy attorney would be looking at FDCPA and stay violation claims, both of which include attorney's fees as part of the award.