If you are a renter, you do not have the same anxiety as homeowners of losing your house when declaring bankruptcy. However, you may still have the looming fear that your landlord will kick you while you are down, so to speak, and evict you from your rental. If this is a dominating worry of yours, please read on to discover whether the automatic stay can stop or prevent eviction proceedings and how a seasoned Rockland County bankruptcy attorney at The Law Offices of Allen A. Kolber, Esq., P.C. can preserve your shelter during what is an already vulnerable and difficult time.
Does the automatic stay hold the power to stop eviction proceedings?
Essentially, the New York State Bankruptcy Court will order an automatic stay almost immediately following your bankruptcy filing. This order essentially holds back your outstanding creditors from pursuing collection activities against you. Notably, this order may similarly restrain your landlord from evicting you from your rental until the court can assess the full scope of your bankruptcy case. After this assessment, though, there is always the possibility that the court will lift this automatic stay, at least for your landlord.
This may be true if your landlord obtained a judgment of possession from the New York Housing Court before you officially submitted your bankruptcy petition. In this case, the bankruptcy court’s power may not extend to any actions taken before taking on your case. Also, your landlord may be well within their right to request the court to lift the automatic stay in the midst of your bankruptcy case proceedings. This may be granted if they can effectively prove that you have failed to meet your tenant obligations thus far, caused destruction to their property, or otherwise.
What else can I do to prevent eviction during my bankruptcy case?
If you are going for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the automatic stay may give you enough time to negotiate an alternative repayment plan with your landlord. Hopefully, your bankruptcy case will relieve you from dischargeable debts and subsequently free up funds to make up for these late rent payments. But you must understand that your landlord is not necessarily obligated to agree to such an arrangement.
For a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you may find the court-ordered repayment plan helpful. This is because you can include your outstanding rent payments in your schedule and slowly give your landlord what they are owed. Once they see your consistent payments coming in, they may feel more inclined to avoid or withdraw their petition to lift the automatic stay. In the end, if you are ready to fight to stay in the place you call home, please retain the services of a competent Rockland County bankruptcy attorney. Our team at The Law Offices of Allen A. Kolber, Esq., P.C. awaits your phone call.
