How a Gilbert Bankruptcy Lawyer Can Help You Avoid Debt Collection Calls

By the time you start thinking about filing for bankruptcy, you are probably used to getting a lot of calls from bill collectors. You likely owe a lot of people a lot of money, and you may feel like they won’t stop calling. You may feel like you get calls at all hours of the day, every day, both at work and at home.

Filing for bankruptcy can put an end to those calls. When you file for bankruptcy, you list out all your debts, and the courts issues an automatic stay, which stipulates that your creditors cannot continue to contact you about your debts. The bankruptcy court will determine what you can pay and which debts will be discharged.

You may find that you continue to get calls even after you file for bankruptcy and the stay has been put in place. This often happens because the creditor sold your debt to a collection agency before you filed for bankruptcy, and you did not know about the exchange. You have to list your debts in your bankruptcy filing for them to be included in your bankruptcy ruling. If you don’t know that your debt has been sold, you can’t list it in the filing, and you will continue to get those calls.

Handling Debts Sold before Your Filing

Hopefully, when a creditor is notified that you have filed bankruptcy, they would forward that notice to the collection agency if they already sold your debt. Unfortunately, many creditors won’t do that. They may just dismiss the notice because they have no obligation for it anymore. They may just shrug it off with the attitude that it’s not their problem anymore, and if you want the notice to get to the proper agency, you’ll do what needs to be done. If that happens, you’ll still be on the hook for the debt.

If your creditor does the right thing and passes on the notice to the collection agency, you may still not find relief. The new agency may claim to have never received the notice – or the notice may have actually gotten lost in the mail. Even if the collection agency does receive the notice, it may be delayed. That delay can cause major problems in your bankruptcy filing. A Gilbert bankruptcy attorney can help you straighten out the situation if this occurs.

Handling Debts Sold after Your Filing

You shouldn’t have to worry about creditors selling off your debt after you file for bankruptcy. The debt is discharged or consolidated in the bankruptcy, so they don’t have a legal right to sell it. However, many creditors have been known to break the rules. Some do it by harassing you in ways they shouldn’t when you owe the debt. Some do it by trying to get whatever money they can by selling off your debt after you file for bankruptcy.

If you get contacted by a collections agency after your bankruptcy filing, your Gilbert bankruptcy attorney can talk to the agency and can file an amended schedule to reflect the new creditor.

Adding Creditors after Your Bankruptcy Filing

You may learn that one of your creditors sold a debt after you have already filed bankruptcy (either they sold it after your filing, or you found out about it after your filing). Or you may have forgotten old debts that are still on your record, and you have already filed for bankruptcy. All is not lost. Your Gilbert bankruptcy attorney can likely file an amended schedule to your filing that includes these other debts.

Filing the amended schedule can cost a little extra money, both in terms of an extra filing fee and additional attorney time. You may be able to get around filing the amended schedule by simply contacting the creditors yourself and letting them know about your filing. You should ask your bankruptcy lawyer about the best course of action.

You don’t have to put up with creditors calling you all the time – especially after you have already filed for bankruptcy. Working with a bankruptcy law office can get those calls to stop. Either you can learn about your rights under bankruptcy, or you can get your bankruptcy lawyer to take action on your behalf, such as by contacting the creditors or filing an amended schedule for you.

If you are overwhelmed with debt and are being harassed by creditors, Gilbert Bankruptcy Lawyers may be able to help you. You may qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, and you may be able to either discharge your debts or consolidate them under an affordable repayment plan. Contact us in Gilbert today to talk with a bankruptcy attorney about your options.

Published By:

Gilbert Bankruptcy Lawyers
Office: 480-448-9800
Website: https://gilbertbankruptcylawyers.com

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