This provision of the Bankruptcy Code is pivotal and a tool that debtors use to protect their rights. The Automatic Stay is governed by 11 U.S.C. 362 and lays out a list of things creditors cannot do once the case is filed. Once the Automatic Stay is initiated, a creditor is forbidden from several things, such as foreclosing on a property, garnishing a person’s paycheck, or even levying their bank account. For people that are dealing with an aggressive creditor, filing for Bankruptcy relief and having the Automatic Stay could be life changing. This strategy is used regularly by our office. For example, if a person is dealing with a foreclosure that has scheduled a sale date of the home, filing for Chapter 13 would initiate the Automatic Stay and not allow that foreclosure to continue. Also, if a person has been served a wage garnishment and now they are facing the fact that their wages will be garnished, filing for the Bankruptcy immediately stops that and saves their money.