How Are My Creditors Notified?

After you sign your final papers, your case will be sent to the Bankruptcy Court for filing.  After the Court receives it, the Court will prepare and mail you a notice which confirms the filing and schedules the meeting of creditors in your case.  At the same time, the Court will send this notice to each of your creditors.  This usually takes between ten days and three weeks.  Once the creditor receives the notice, the creditor is supposed to stop sending bills, stop calling, and stop trying to collect money.  Because it can take anywhere from several days to a month for your creditors to receive and process your bankruptcy notice, your attorney can notify your most persistent creditors as soon as your bankruptcy case is filed.

Creditor Calls

After your case is filed, to make sure the creditor has notice of the bankruptcy, you should tell each creditor who calls me that you have filed bankruptcy and the bankruptcy case number (located on the Court notice, or available from your attorney.)  Once you tell a creditor these things, it is unlawful for the creditor to call.  Giving notice to the creditor over the telephone is just as binding under the law as the written notice sent by the Court.  If you continue to receive calls from a creditor, you should then bring the matter to the attention of your attorney.

Creditor Bills

If you receive more than one bill from a creditor after you file, you should mark on the second bill “I have filed bankruptcy” and “It is unlawful for you to continue billing me.”  You should then make a photo copy of the bill and mail the bill back to the creditor at the same address listed on the bill and, if you have already received the Court notice, include with the bill a copy of the Court notice (which tells the creditor the case number and where the case is filed).  If you continue to receive bills from a creditor, unless it is a creditor you are supposed to keep paying (see following sections of this notice), you should send the bill to your attorney, with a note asking the attorney to take whatever steps are necessary to get the creditor to stop the unlawful conduct.