Often, when filing a Chapter 7 petition, a debtor will owe money to a bank where he or she has a savings or checking account. A bank then may "freeze" those accounts administratively suspending the debtor's right to use the funds in the accounts—as soon as the petition is filed. Banks should be aware that in order to freeze an account, there must be an identity of interest between the debtor and the owner of the account and that they may only freeze funds that were on deposit when the petition was filed—not funds that were deposited afterwards.
Immediately after freezing an account, a bank must request permission from the Bankruptcy Court to apply—or offset—the funds in the account to the debtor's obligations to the bank. This permission is needed because at the moment the petition is filed, an injunction called an automatic stay goes into effect and prohibits creditors from taking any activity to collect on debts that were incurred before the petition was filed. If a bank does not promptly request Bankruptcy Court permission to offset, the debtor may ask the Bankruptcy Court to hold the bank in contempt for violating the automatic stay.
Creditors other than banks or lending institutions may also offset mutual debts owed to a Chapter 7 debtor which arose pre-petition, subject to certain rules set forth in the Bankruptcy Code and the requirement that relief from stay be necessary to enable the creditor to actually effect a formal transfer of funds or application of offset.
RSS
Often, when filing a Chapter 7 petition, a debtor will owe money to a bank where he or she has a savings or checking account. A bank then may "freeze" those accounts administratively suspending the debtor's right to use the funds in the accounts—as soon as the petition is filed. Banks should be aware that in order to freeze an account, there must be an identity of interest between the debtor and the owner of the account and that they may only freeze funds that were on deposit when the petition was filed—not funds that were deposited afterwards.
Immediately after freezing an account, a bank must request permission from the Bankruptcy Court to apply—or offset—the funds in the account to the debtor's obligations to the bank. This permission is needed because at the moment the petition is filed, an injunction called an automatic stay goes into effect and prohibits creditors from taking any activity to collect on debts that were incurred before the petition was filed. If a bank does not promptly request Bankruptcy Court permission to offset, the debtor may ask the Bankruptcy Court to hold the bank in contempt for violating the automatic stay.
Creditors other than banks or lending institutions may also offset mutual debts owed to a Chapter 7 debtor which arose pre-petition, subject to certain rules set forth in the Bankruptcy Code and the requirement that relief from stay be necessary to enable the creditor to actually effect a formal transfer of funds or application of offset.