Digital Federal Credit Union, in the case of In re Evans, 2008 WL 427259 (Bankr.E.D.N.C. 2008), repossessed the debtor’s vehicle seven months after the case had been filed. The debtor’s lawyer called to get the vehicle returned and was told that it would be done by the end of the day. In spite of repeated phone calls to Digital, the vehicle was not returned for a full month.

So what did the lawyer do? He did the right thing - he filed a motion for sanctions against Digital for violating the automatic stay.

Digital did not respond to the debtor’s motion and did not appear at the hearing. Digital disregarded the phone calls from counsel for the debtor, ignored the automatic stay, and neither responded to the debtor’s motion nor attended the hearing to offer an explanation of its behavior.

The court realized that Digital’s actions have caused the debtor considerable distress, and the debtor incurred attorney’s fees to bring the motion.