Eskanos & Adler, P.C. v. Somkiat G. Leetien
Opinion
Opinion
Hug, J.
Somkiat Leetien (“Leetien”) filed for bankruptcy. Shortly thereafter, her creditor, First Select, Inc. (“First Select”), through its legal counsel and collection agent, Eskanos & Adler (“Eskanos”), filed in state court a collection action against Leetien. The bankruptcy judge jointly sanctioned Eskanos and First Select $1,000 for willfully violating the automatic stay protection in federal bankruptcy law by failing to timely dismiss or stay the state collection action. The district court affirmed.
Eskanos appeals, claiming that federal bankruptcy law imposes no affirmative duty to discontinue post-petition state collection actions. Eskanos also contends that no willful violation occurred, and that Leetien did not sustain actual damages. First Select does not appeal the district court’s order. We disagree with Eskanos and AFFIRM.
I
On August 18, 2000, Leetien voluntarily filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. This filing engages the automatic stay protection pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 362 (a) of the Bankruptcy Code. First Select, listed as an unsecured creditor from Leetien’s schedules, was notified via first class mail on August 23, 2000. On August 28, 2000, Eskanos filed…