The automatic stay is triggered immediately upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition and substantially stops all acts and proceedings against the debtor and its property. The Automatic stay is one of the most fundamental protections offered by the Bankruptcy Code to a bankruptcy Debtor. The automatic stay becomes effective without a court order and without notice to creditors.
There are certain actions that violate the stay outlined in §362(a) of the Bankruptcy Code:

• Filing or continuing to litigate previously filed proceedings pursuant to a prepetition claim against the debtor
• Enforcing a prepetition judgment against the debtor
• Obtaining possession or control over estate property, regardless of timing
• Creating, perfecting, or enforcing a lien against estate property or debtor property (if related to a prepetition claim)
• Any act to collect, recover, or assess a prepetition claim against the debtor
• A setoff of prepetition debts arising from different transactions

When a creditor violates the Automatic Stay, the Debtor may be entitled to compensation. The attorneys at The Batista Law Group have extensive experience in filing, litigating, and settling actions brought for creditor violations of the Automatic Stay.