The pressure of managing debt in any of its forms brings about enormous amounts of stress. Once you file for bankruptcy, for most debtors, the telephone calls and lawsuits from creditors should stop. But if they don’t stop, there is a good chance that a creditor is attempting to illegally collect on a debt. If they do end up illegally collecting on a debt, because of recent court rulings, and attorney can help you recoup those debts, at little cost to you.

If a creditor either starts or continues a lawsuit in family court, justice court, superior court or otherwise, a stay violation most likely has taken place. Certain types of lawsuits and collections are allowed to continue when there is a stay in place, but many are not.  This is why you need a knowledgeable attorney who can evaluate your case to determine whether you case is being handled properly. It is not uncommon for a debtor to not know the activities are illegal and that they have a way to be compensated for their inconvenience and emotional damages.  Recent developments in the Ninth Circuit help Arizonans to recover attorney fees accrued while pursuing an unlawful debt collection.

In 2012, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals took away a Debtor’s ability to recoup attorney fees after the creditor stopped collecting on the debt. See In Re Sternberg (2010). This made it very difficult for someone who just filed bankruptcy to be able to pursue unlawful debt collection because the attorney fees were often more than the damage awards.

The Ninth Circuit finally corrected Sternberg in In Re Schwartz-Tallard. The Court allowed a Debtor to recoup all of the attorney fees associated with rectifying the stay violation including attorney fees accrued during the litigation. This means that if you have had a debt that was illegally collected, you can work with an attorney to recoup that money, at little or no cost to you.

So, long story short, if you feel like you have had a debt that was illegally collected on in any situation, give us a call and let us see if we can help you recover the money illegally taken from you.