If a creditor is trying to collect after a bankruptcy discharge, the collection is almost certainly illegal, and you can stop it: confirm the debt was actually wiped out in your case, send the creditor a written demand to stop with a copy of your discharge order, and if they keep going, ask the bankruptcy court to hold them in contempt. Federal law backs you up, and the same court that closed your case can reopen it to enforce its own order.
What the Discharge Order Forbids
The discharge order your bankruptcy court issued does more than end your case. It creates a discharge injunction, a permanent court order that bars creditors from any effort to collect a discharged debt from you personally.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 524 – Effect of Discharge
That covers the full range of collection conduct: phone calls, demand letters, lawsuits, wage garnishment, bank levies, and reporting the debt as active to the credit bureaus. Unlike the automatic stay that protected you while your case was open, the injunction never expires.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 524 – Effect of Discharge A creditor who continues collecting a discharged debt is violating a federal court order, and the court can impose sanctions for it.
Confirm the Debt Was Actually Discharged
Before you accuse a creditor of breaking the law, rule out the situations where post-discharge contact is legitimate. Getting this wrong the other direction burns your time on a fight you can’t win.
Pull your bankruptcy paperwork and check three things. First, that you actually received a discharge order — in Chapter 7 it typically arrives about 60 days after the meeting of creditors, and in Chapter 13 it comes after you complete your repayment plan. If your case was dismissed instead, the injunction doesn’t apply. Second, that the debt in question appears on the schedules you filed. Third, that you didn’t sign a reaffirmation agreement for it.
If you no longer have your paperwork, the bankruptcy court’s electronic filing system holds it, and the clerk’s office can provide copies for a small fee. Your former bankruptcy attorney, if you had one, will also have the file.
Debts That Survive Bankruptcy
Certain categories of debt aren’t wiped out even when you get a discharge. Child support and alimony, most student loans, certain tax debts, personal injury debts from drunk driving, and obligations from fraud or intentional harm to another person all remain collectable.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge Some of these, like child support and most tax debts, stay collectable automatically. Others, like debts based on fraud, only survive if the creditor filed an adversary proceeding during your case and won; if that deadline passed with no action, those debts were discharged with everything else.
Reaffirmed Debts
A reaffirmation agreement is a voluntary contract you sign during bankruptcy to remain personally liable for a debt that would otherwise be discharged. These show up most often with car loans and sometimes mortgages, where you want to keep the collateral.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 4008 – Reaffirmation Agreement and Supporting Statement If you signed one, that particular debt is treated as though you never filed bankruptcy on it, and the creditor can pursue you the same as any other lender.
Liens That Outlive the Discharge
This one catches people off guard. The discharge eliminates your personal obligation to pay, but a valid lien on your property survives. A mortgage lender can’t sue you for the balance or send you to collections after discharge, but it can still foreclose if you stop paying. Same with a car lender. The creditor’s remedy is limited to the collateral, but contact about the collateral itself may be permitted as long as it doesn’t cross into collecting a personal debt.
Send a Cease-and-Desist Letter
Once you’ve confirmed the debt was discharged and not reaffirmed, put the creditor on notice in writing. Send the letter by certified mail with return receipt requested so you have proof of delivery. Include:
- Your bankruptcy case number and the court that handled it
- The date of your discharge order
- A copy of the discharge order itself
- A direct demand that all collection activity stop, with a statement that continued contact violates the discharge injunction and that you will seek sanctions
This letter resolves most cases on its own. A lot of post-discharge collection happens because old debts get sold to third-party buyers who have no record of your bankruptcy. Once a legitimate collector sees the discharge order, they stop. Keep the certified mail receipt and copies of everything. If the creditor doesn’t stop, that paper trail proves they knew about the discharge and kept collecting anyway, which is the exact fact you need in court.
Clean Up Your Credit Report
A discharged debt that still shows as active or past due on your credit report is a separate problem that can quietly undercut the fresh start bankruptcy is supposed to give you. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, both the credit bureaus and the creditors furnishing information have to correct inaccurate entries. A discharged debt should show a zero balance and be marked as included in bankruptcy.
File a dispute directly with the bureau reporting the error — Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian — online, by phone, or by mail. The bureau contacts the creditor, who has 30 days to respond. If the creditor can’t verify the debt or confirms it was discharged, the bureau has to correct or remove the entry. If you hit a wall with the dispute process, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accepts complaints about credit reporting at consumerfinance.gov.
Reopen Your Bankruptcy Case
If the cease-and-desist letter doesn’t stop the collection, go back to the bankruptcy court that handled your case. You do this by filing a motion to reopen under the federal bankruptcy rules.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 5010 – Reopening a Case Reopening specifically to enforce a discharge is a routine use of the procedure. Some courts waive the reopening fee when that’s the reason, though this varies by district.
Once the case is reopened, you file a motion for contempt or sanctions asking the judge to hold the creditor accountable for violating the injunction. The court schedules a hearing where both sides present evidence. You need to show the debt was discharged and that the creditor kept collecting after discharge was entered. Bring the collection letters, call logs, your cease-and-desist letter with the return receipt, and the discharge order itself. This is the point where a bankruptcy attorney earns their fee. The procedural rules for contempt motions are specific, and if you win, the attorney’s fees are often recoverable from the creditor.
What You Can Recover
When a court finds a creditor willfully violated the discharge injunction, it can award several kinds of damages:
- Actual damages, including any money you paid the creditor on the discharged debt and bank fees from unauthorized garnishments or levies
- Emotional distress damages, which courts recognize because being pursued for a discharged debt causes real harm
- Punitive damages when the creditor’s conduct was aggressive or repeated
- Attorney’s fees and costs for the work of reopening the case and stopping the collection
The word “willful” is doing important work. To prove a willful violation, you generally have to show the creditor knew the discharge injunction existed and intended the collection activity that violated it. The creditor doesn’t need to have intended to break the law; knowing about the discharge and choosing to collect anyway is enough. A creditor who genuinely never received the discharge order may have a defense, which is exactly why the cease-and-desist letter with a copy of that order matters: it eliminates the ignorance argument going forward.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 524 – Effect of Discharge
The exact standard for “willful” varies by jurisdiction. Some courts require proof of actual knowledge that the discharge applied to the specific claim. Others accept constructive knowledge, meaning the creditor should have known. Either way, a paper trail showing the cease-and-desist letter, the certified mail receipt, and continued collection activity dated after that delivery gives you the strongest possible record when you walk into court.