This blog will be dedicated to my Complaint against a creditor that continues to bill me for a pre-petition claim. (I have a thread on this as well, but the blog will be my main place to collect my thoughts and guide everyone through the process.)

An Adversary Proceeding (AP) is not something that I suggest any pro se debtor attempt. I have no choice but to bring this AP, and I could have had an attorney do it on contingency. However, I chose to do this myself and perhaps we can all learn from this.

I no longer just think that pro se debtors are preyed upon, I know that they are.

-justbroke 5/8/2010
I don't mean this blog to be about the actual technical process, but more about my particular case and the journey. It is not meant to tell you HOW to file an AP because I would just tell you to go hire an attorney.

So, this AP/Complaint was brought to determine whether;
  1. the Court would really protect a pro se debtor against a big creditor (corporation) that keeps billing him,
  2. whether continued collection letters and bills on pre-petition debt are really a violation,
  3. whether a creditor is subject to a stay violation after being notified of the bankruptcy 2 times by the BNC and 3 times by the debtor (via FAX and mail with certificate of service filed)
  4. whether a creditor can be found in violation of the stay and be subjected to actual damages
  5. whether actual damages can include compulsory damages, like a $1,000 award per incident
  6. whether damages can actually be awarded to a pro se debtor for actual costs, including travel time, postage, service costs, lost wages, costs to prosecute the complaint, etc.
  7. whether punitive damages are warranted in a case where the debtor is pro se and the creditor clearly violated the stay multiple times
  8. whether a 200% punitive award -- comparative to actual damages -- is sufficient to punish the creditor from doing this again
  9. a bunch of issues on the interaction of 11 USC 548, 11 USC 727, and 11 USC 523


The Original Thread is where much of the discussion will generally happen.

I didn't want to do an adversary proceeding (AP) because these things are complex and the procedures (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically) have so many traps for pro se plaintiffs, that it's not funny. I'm hoping to prevail on a motion for summary judgment, but I'm not holding my breath. I fully expect the creditor to respond. The question will be, what is their game plan on defending why they have continued to bill and demand pre-petition claims.