The debtors said the invoices caused them to experience anxiety and sleepless nights. Debtors sued M.G. Brown alleging that the company willfully violated the automatic stay. M. G. Brown responded that any violation of the stay was inadvertent, and that the bills were not sent to the debtors but were sent to their company, which the debtors operated from their home.

At the hearing, Foreman testified that neither M.G. Brown nor Foreman's Inc. had a procedure for handling bankrupt accounts. Foreman said he was unaware of the debtors' bankruptcy when he wrote the notes on the invoices. His references to paying attorneys were based on his assumption that this was what the debtors were doing. But the court did not believe Foreman's explanation. "The handwritten notes on the account statements suggest Mr. Foreman …had knowledge the debtors actually filed a bankruptcy petition. The notes reference hiring an attorney, payment of legal fees, and filing for bankruptcy," the court said and found that Foreman knew the debtors filed for bankruptcy.

The court awarded debtors punitive damages of $10,000 because M.G. Brown willfully and maliciously sent handwritten, personal notes to debtors. It also awarded debtors' attorney's fees of $2,500, and another $2,500 for their loss of sleep and increased anxiety.

Lawrence Bautista Yang is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and has been in law practice for thirty years. He specializes in bankruptcy, business and civil litigation and has handled more than five thousand successful bankruptcy cases in California. He speaks Mandarin and Fujien and looks forward to discussing your case with you personally. Please call (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S Fremont Ave Bldg A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58 Alhambra, CA 91803.