Automatic Stay Manual del abogado

Filing a bankruptcy petition (noun) A written request to a court (verb) To request from a court results in an automatic stay of a broad range of actions by creditors seeking to reach a debtor A person who owes money to someone else ’s property, including:

• Commencing or continuing virtually any debt collection efforts, including dunning letters or other informal collection methods
• Obtaining, perfecting, or enforcing a lien A claim against property that may be used to repay a debt ;
• Enforcing a pre-bankruptcy-petition judgment An official decision by a court that ends the dispute between parties against both the debtor and "property of the estate All of the property a person owns at their death " of the debtor;
• Issuing or the use of process against the debtor in a judicial, administrative or other proceeding; or
• Any act to obtain possession of "property of the estate" from the debtor.

Note: In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the automatic stay provides the above protection to co-debtors as well.

Exceptions to the automatic stay

Exceptions to the stay are limited but include:

Exceptions to the stay are limited, but include:

• Commencement or continuation of a criminal action or proceeding against the debtor;
• Commencement or continuation of a civil action to establish paternity, establish or modify To change or adjust a domestic support obligation, concerning child custody or visitation Time spent between a child and a person who is not the parent ;
• Collecting a domestic support obligation from property that is not the property of the estate;
• Withholding When an employer keeps some of a person's paycheck to cover their taxes of income pursuant to court or administrative order A decision made by a government agency ;
• Intercepting a tax refund The money a person gets back if they had too much money withheld for taxes during the year ;
• Restricting or suspending a driver's license, a professional or occupational license, or a recreational license under state law;
• Filing or continuing a divorce, except to the extent that any such divorce proceeding seeks to determine the division of property that is “property of the estate” of the debtor;
• If the debtor’s bankruptcy case is filed within a year of the dismissal of a previous bankruptcy case, the automatic stay only lasts for 30 days, unless it is extended by the bankruptcy court; and
• If the debtor’s bankruptcy case is filed within a year of the dismissal of two previous bankruptcy cases, there is no automatic stay, unless and until the automatic stay is imposed by the bankruptcy court.

Relief from the Automatic Stay

If their action does not fall within the listed exceptions, parties requesting relief from the automatic stay must petition the bankruptcy court. Examples of parties who might be granted relief are:

• Landlords seeking eviction A court case brought by a landlord to get a tenant to move out ; 
• Secured creditors seeking to foreclose on a mortgage A loan given by a bank that is used to help someone buy a home or to repossess personal property; and
• Spouses seeking a division of marital property Property acquired by either spouse during the marriage , divorce, or child custody.