PrintA Motion for Relief from Stay is filed against a debtor's case when a creditor wants to be granted permission to contact the debtor; thus, removing the Automatic Stay that is placed upon a debtor when filing for bankruptcy. A creditor could have a few reasons for filing this motion including wanting to continue the foreclosure or surrendering process on collateral that is intended to be surrendered or for wanting to repossess collateral for which a debtor has not made timely monthly payments.
Whether or not you need to go to the hearing scheduled for the motion depends on the answer to the following questions:
a. Are you giving up the property?
If so, then you don’t need to take any action. You don’t even need to call us. Just ignore the motion altogether.
b. Are you filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy?
If so, you probably do not need to take any action. This creditor will automatically gain the power that it is requesting at discharge which is 90 days after filing date. Furthermore, the creditor cannot retake its collateral until after the hearing date on the front of the motion (3-4 weeks from now). The creditor isn’t gaining much time with this motion.
If you have some reason you really need the collateral for the period between the hearing and the discharge, you will have to pay at least a month’s regular payment to the creditor and $600 to Lincoln Law to attend the hearing and argue your case. If you would like to pursue this option, please set up a phone appointment with the attorney.
c. Are you filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
If so, and if you are not surrendering the property, then the creditor is alleging that you are behind on payments that came due after you filed your case. If you want to keep the property, the court will require that you begin making all of your regular payments and catch-up payments for a period of months. Please set up a telephone appointment with the attorney to discuss your ability to make catch-up payments.
