Automatic Stay Lawyer Manual

Filing a bankruptcy petition results in an automatic stay of a broad range of actions by creditors seeking to reach debtor’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;
• Enforcing a pre-petition judgment against "property of the estate" of the debtor;
• Issuing or use of the process in a judicial, administrative or other proceedings against the debtor; or
• Any act to obtain possession from the debtor.

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

Exceptions to stay

Exceptions to the stay are limited but include:

• Commencement or continuation of criminal activity;
• Establishing paternity, establishing or modifying a domestic support obligation;
• Collecting a domestic support obligation from property that is not the property of the estate, or by the withholding of income pursuant to court or administrative order, intercepting a tax refund, or suspension of a driver's license, professional, or occupational license or a recreational license;
• Filing or continuing a divorce;
• If a case is filed within a year of dismissal of a previous case, the stay only lasts for 30 days, unless it is extended by the court; and
• If a case is filed and two cases have been dismissed in the year before the case was filed, there is no stay, unless and until a stay is imposed by the court.

Relief from 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; 
• Secured creditors seeking to foreclose on a mortgage or to repossess personal property; and
• Spouses seeking a division of marital property, divorce, or child custody.