Schafer and Weiner Resolves Automatic Stay Violation

August, 2018

One of the primary benefits of filing for bankruptcy is the automatic stay, which stays, among other things, actions to collect pre-petition debt from a debtor. A creditor that violates the automatic stay may be liable for the debtor’s actual damages and attorney’s fees. An individual chapter 7 debtor filed an adversary proceeding against Schafer and Weiner’s creditor-client to enforce the automatic stay related to text messages and other correspondence the creditor sent to the debtor. John Stockdale Jr. resolved the litigation for a nominal payment – a payment less than the anticipated attorney fee award, and without incurring the legal costs associated with defending the claims.