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If a collection letter, billing statement, phone call, email, or text is sent to you indicating that a debt is due and payable when your debt has been discharged by bankruptcy, it is a violation of North Carolina state and federal unfair debt collection laws and you recover between $500 – $4000 for each violation (every phone call, letter etc. is a separate violation). It could also be a violation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act if the credit repair companies are reporting your discharge inaccurately. Receiving additional bills adds unwanted stress to you and your family and a failure to clean up the credit can be even worse — harming you from obtaining a mortgage or a car loan in the future. Our firm has recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars for our post bankruptcy discharge clients dealing with improper debt collection efforts and credit reporting mistakes following a bankruptcy. As an ex-debtor, you are entitled to recover their attorney fees for such violations.
Visit our contact page here for a free case review for assistance in getting these letters to stop, get your credit report fixed, and potentially receive compensation for having had to deal with the creditor and credit reporting failures. There is no obligation to sign up to have our firm represent you, you can simply learn your rights under consumer protection statutes. Maginnis Law handles unfair debt collection post bankruptcy discharge cases on a contingency basis, meaning you only pay us if we recover funds for you. For more information regarding claims dealing with inaccurate credit reports (including failure to update bankruptcy information), visit our page on inaccurate credit reports here.
Filing a petition for bankruptcy is an experience filled with emotion for debtors. You didn’t take on a debt with the expectation that they won’t be able to pay it back and many debtors feel a sense of embarrassment or worthlessness associated with having to utilize the protections provided by the Bankruptcy Code. The one saving grace associated with a bankruptcy filing for you is that, when it’s over and the debtor has received their discharge, you will have a “fresh start.” You can move forward with your life without having to deal with bill collectors, collection agencies, and creditors harassing you with phone calls, letters, text messages, and emails regarding making payments that you simply don’t have.
Unfortunately, many collection agencies and creditors choose to willfully ignore the existence of bankruptcy discharges, robbing debtors of the fresh start that our laws allow for you.
Creditors continue to send statements to you demanding payment post bankruptcy discharge debt or send the debt to collection agencies without noting the bankruptcy. Collection agencies contact you without checking for a bankruptcy filing because it costs time and money to do so. Creditors note in credit reports that you were in bankruptcy but give a misleading picture regarding the status of the debt. Some credit reports will completely ignore the bankruptcy filing.
Many credit furnishers have intentionally failed to correct reports to consumer reporting agencies in order to pressure debtors like yourself into paying post bankruptcy discharge debt. Debt collectors will buy debt from other parties and attempt to collect even after a bankruptcy has been filed, claiming ignorance about a bankruptcy or insisting that it’s not their job to know about your bankruptcy.
Some will stop after being told about the bankruptcy (which is still a violation of state law and subject to a lawsuit). Some won’t.
If you have been contacted by a debt collector regarding post bankruptcy discharge debt, even if it was just once, Maginnis Law may be able to assist. Make sure you save any communications and keep track of any phone calls, text messages, emails, letters, or billing statements received. North Carolina assesses violations of its state unfair debt collection laws on a “per violation” basis, meaning that every letter, call, email, or text is a separate violation subject to penalties under state law. Visit our contact page or contact us, we may be able to help you.
