I believe they are way out of line and violating the automatic stay. What makes them believe they can go after and bug me. The business went out of business for lack of sales. It was a sole prop dba.
What are my rights? What do I do?
Get the name and number of the parties calling you and write down the dates and times they call. Ask them this each time they call. If you can get them to mail you something in writing, even better. Then have your attorney write them a letter informing them that they are violating the automatic stay. If they continue after that, you can file a motion in the bankruptcy court for willful violation of the automatic stay. Be SURE that you have listed them correctly with the correct address on your bankruptcy papers. Is this just a collection agency that wasn't listed? If so, mail them a copy of your case commencement notice.
The point of all this is to be sure they are notified of the bankruptcy filing, and then anything they do after that will be considered a willful violation of the automatic stay and you can recover sanctions against them.
Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law
Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991.
http://www.bklaw.com/
Tell them that you're recording the conversation (which you must do in California). If you have the ability, actually record the conversation. They probably know they're violating the law and will be unwilling to do so if they think your recording them. This will probably stop the calls, but if it doesn't, you'll have some evidence proving their willful violation (assuming you're actually recording them).
Good luck!
Rob Taylor
You are required to list all dbas, akas, and other names you've used in the past 8 years. That's like the second line of the first page of the petition. However, regardless of whether you did that or not, you are protected by the automatic stay. The only issue is whether they got notice and continued to violate the stay after that. If your case is still open, you should amend the petition to include the business names. These also should have been listed in the Statement of Financial Affairs questions 18-21. Did you file this yourself, or have an attorney represent you?
