Does the automatic stay include field inspectors?

[Wantmypeace]

We filed Ch 7 on Feb 11, and a "field inspector" for Wells Fargo came by our house today.

He said he was verifying occupancy and gave my husband a piece of paper that said, "At the request of Wells Fargo Bank NA, an independent field inspector called on you. Please contact Wells Fargo Bank NM at 1-800-416-1472."

Our attorney said to record, keep, and report to him every phone call, piece of mail, and contact made by any of our creditors. I will report this to him, but I'm curious what you all think. Has this happened to you?

[daxtell]

it is hard to say based on not knowing how far along the process is regarding the status of your home. plus the order may have already gone out in one department to do an occupancy check before the other department had time to tell them you had filed for bankruptcy. regarding the status of your home that i mentioned, banks do them generally after a foreclosure sale has happened and they now own the property back. they do it to protect the asset if abandoned or to know how to proceed to offer cash for keys or to proceed with an eviction. but if your house has not been sold and they were aware of your bankruptcy filing then yes i would say something is not right at all.

[Wantmypeace]

We are four months behind on payments, but we still haven't even received a notice of default. So, we're nowhere near a sale yet. I'll definitely call the attorney...

[justbroke]

The automatic stay does not include inspectors. However, the fact that the inspector gave you material asking you to call, may be an interesting thing. The stay only protects against the collection of or employment of process to collect. I have had, during my Chapter 13, an inspector go by to check on occupancy. This is normal in pre-foreclosure situations.

[Wantmypeace]

Okay, I guess I will just call the attorney and let him know, but I won't worry about it.

[tobee43]

yes, chase had someone come out and check for occupancy.....and for good reason......we LEFT in the middle of winter and they needed to hurry their butts to get the house winterized!!!!

(we heard it thru the grapevine).....but as jb points out, this is normal during a pre-foreclosure.