Immediately stops lawsuits and home foreclosures

Will filing for Bankruptcy do anything about lawsuits or foreclosures that have already been filed in State court?

The short answer is "yes." Bankruptcy is a federal court action that, in most cases, supersedes State court actions (but NOT criminal prosecutions). Once you file a petition for bankruptcy protection, all efforts to collect a debt against you personally is "stayed" or temporarily put on hold under the Code section 362 "Automatic Stay." All lawsuits, including complaints to foreclose a mortgage must come to an immediate halt.

The prohibitions against collection efforts by your creditors once you filed for bankruptcy protection come with substantial teeth. Creditors who violate the automatic stay can be sued immediately within the bankruptcy court system in what is called an "adversarial proceeding" or a lawsuit seeking a court order directed at a particular creditor to stop their continued collection efforts. In appropriate circumstances the creditor can be ordered to pay you damages, pay my law office its attorney's fees and costs to file the adversarial proceeding, and punitive damages if the behavior was willful and egregious.

Keep in mind the special status your secured creditors hold. Just because a secured creditor is prohibited from collecting a debt against you personally, does not necessarily mean they cannot pursue their claim against the securing property. All secured creditors do have the right to file a Motion for Relief From the Automatic Stay - essentially asking the bankruptcy court for permission to continue its efforts in state court - but only against the property.

To see how your property can still be protected see Chapter 13 bankruptcy options.