How to Stop Creditor Calls and Lawsuits in Hawaiʻi with Bankruptcy
This guide is legal information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different, and the right move in your case depends on your facts. For advice about your own situation, start with my free questionnaire or call me at (808) 468-7000.
I work hard to keep this page accurate, but errors or omissions are possible and the law can change. The information here is current only as of the date above.
Can bankruptcy stop creditor calls and lawsuits in Hawaiʻi?
Yes. Filing bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay, a federal injunction (a binding legal order) that takes effect the instant your case is filed. From that moment, creditors must stop calling you, and lawsuits against you freeze. It covers credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, and most other consumer debts.
If your phone rings all day and you dread checking the mail, I want you to know something simple: this part can end quickly. The calls do not wind down over months. Collection stops on the day the case is filed, all at once, by order of federal law.
What Stops the Moment You File
The automatic stay comes from Section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code. It is not a request, and creditors do not get to opt out. The day your case is filed, it halts:
- Collection calls, letters, emails, and texts
- Lawsuits, both new ones and ones already in progress
- Wage garnishments (other than for child support and alimony)
- Bank account levies
- Repossessions and foreclosure proceedings
You do not have to win an argument with anyone or prove anything first. The protection comes from the filing itself. I cover the stay in more depth in my Chapter 7 guide.
How Creditors Find Out, and How Fast the Calls Actually Stop
When your case is filed, the court mails a formal notice to every creditor you list. That notice usually goes out within days. Many clients notice the phone going quiet within the first week, often sooner.
If a particular creditor is aggressive, there is no need to wait for the mail. My office can give that creditor your case number right away, and that usually ends it. Once a creditor knows about your bankruptcy, continuing to collect violates the stay.
So if a call slips through after you file, you do not need to be afraid of it. You give them the case number, and you tell me.
If You Have Already Been Sued
A pending collection lawsuit freezes the moment your bankruptcy is filed. There is no hearing to attend and no response to draft. The case simply cannot move forward while the stay is in place.
If the debt is then discharged in your bankruptcy, the lawsuit is over for good, because the debt behind it no longer legally exists. Not every debt is discharged, and which side of that line yours falls on decides whether the lawsuit ends or picks back up, so my guide to the debts that survive covers the list. When your case ends, a second and permanent protection takes over from the automatic stay: the discharge injunction under Section 524 of the Bankruptcy Code. It bars creditors from ever again trying to collect a discharged debt, with no expiration date. This is true even if the creditor already won a judgment against you: a judgment for a dischargeable debt can be wiped out along with the debt itself, and collection on it stops the day you file.
A judgment lien already recorded against your property is the exception. That lien can survive the bankruptcy, so tell me at the start if a judgment has been recorded against you.
What you should not do is wait. If you have been served with court papers, the clock is running whether you answer or not, and doing nothing has real consequences. Filing bankruptcy before a judgment is entered is almost always cleaner than untangling one afterward.
If a Garnishment or Bank Levy Is Already Running
Many people come to me after the collecting has already started: a chunk of every paycheck is gone, or a bank account has been frozen. The stay reaches those too. The day your case is filed, an active wage garnishment must stop, and a pending bank levy cannot move forward.
There is a narrow exception. Garnishment for child support and alimony continues, because the Bankruptcy Code specifically excepts domestic support obligations from the automatic stay. Everything else, a credit card judgment, a medical debt, an old personal loan, has to stop taking your money.
In some cases, money that was garnished shortly before you filed can be recovered, especially if the total taken in the run-up to filing was large. That window is short and the rules are specific, so the timing of your filing matters. If a garnishment is active right now, call me before your next payday rather than after. I go deeper on this in my guide to stopping wage garnishment. A bank levy is a different problem from a garnishment, because there is no percentage limit on what comes out of an account. I cover that in my guide to a frozen bank account.
What Happens If a Creditor Ignores the Stay
The stay has teeth. Once a creditor knows about your bankruptcy, continuing to collect is a violation of a federal court order, not a gray area.
Under the Bankruptcy Code, if a creditor willfully violates the stay, meaning it knew about your case and kept collecting anyway, the court can order it to pay your actual damages, including your attorney's fees, and in some cases punitive damages on top. "Willful" does not require proof that the creditor meant to break the law. It is enough that it knew about the bankruptcy and acted.
In practice, this is why the calls stop fast. Creditors and their collection agencies know the rule, and many correct course the moment they are told a case has been filed. If one does not, keep a simple record: the date, the phone number, and what was said. Then tell my office. That record is often all it takes to make the problem stop.
Let's talk about your options.
I have helped more than a thousand people through this. Tell me what you are dealing with and I will tell you what you may qualify for: Chapter 7, Chapter 13, or another path entirely.
Before You File: You Can Tell a Collector to Stop Calling
Federal law protects you even before any bankruptcy. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, once a collection agency knows a lawyer represents you on the debt, it generally must contact the lawyer instead of you, even if you only tell the agent by phone. You can also tell a third-party collection agency in writing to stop contacting you entirely, and it generally must stop.
Be clear about what that letter does and does not do. It stops the calls from that collector. It does not make the debt go away, it does not stop a lawsuit, and it does not bind the original creditor. Some people find the quiet lets them think clearly about their next step. But if the debt is still there, the letter has only muted the problem, not solved it.
What the Automatic Stay Does Not Stop
The stay is powerful, but it is not absolute. Child support and alimony obligations continue. Criminal cases proceed. Certain tax actions can continue as well.
And if you had a bankruptcy case dismissed within the past year, the stay can run out after thirty days. If two or more were dismissed in that year, it may never start at all. Keeping it takes a motion, and the hearing has to happen inside those first thirty days, so a repeat filing cannot wait. If you have filed before, tell me at the start.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast do the calls stop after I file?
Almost immediately. The automatic stay is in force the instant your case is filed, and the court mails notice to every creditor you list within days. Many clients notice the phone going quiet within the first week, often sooner.
What if a creditor keeps calling after I file?
Tell the caller you filed bankruptcy, give them your case number, and then tell my office. A creditor that knowingly keeps collecting violates a federal injunction, and the court can order it to pay damages. In practice, the calls stop quickly once a creditor learns about the case.
Do collection agencies have to follow the same rules?
Yes. The automatic stay binds original creditors, collection agencies, and debt buyers alike. It does not matter how many times the debt has been sold. Whoever holds it must stop collecting the moment the case is filed.
Will my employer or family find out?
Not often, and the answer depends on the chapter. A bankruptcy is a public record, but nobody is notified except the creditors you list. In a Chapter 7 your employer is not told unless a garnishment has to be stopped, in which case the news is that money will no longer be taken from your check. In a Chapter 13 your employer can be told, because plan payments can be ordered to come out of your pay. Friends and neighbors are not contacted. A family member who co-signed for you is a creditor, so that person is on the list and does get notice.
Can a creditor still call me if I have a lawyer but have not filed yet?
Yes, until the case is filed, but you have tools before then. Once you hire me, a collection agency that knows a lawyer represents you generally must contact my office instead of you, even if you only tell the agent by phone. You can also tell a collection agency in writing to stop contacting you entirely. The full, court-backed stop on every creditor comes when the case is actually filed.
Sources & Legal Authorities
The authorities behind this guide.
- United States Code. 11 U.S.C. § 342(a); § 342(e); § 342(g)(2); § 362; § 362(c)(3)(A); § 362(c)(4)(A)(i); § 362(k); § 523(a); § 524; § 524(e); § 1301; 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692–1692p
- Rules. Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002(a); D. Haw. LBR 3070-1(a)(2); D. Haw. LBR 4001-5(a)(3)(A)
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