.......Creditors can ask a bankruptcy judge to “lift” the stay, so they can collect their debt. That requires a formal request—which can get tricky because bankruptcy court prefers that everything be filed electronically. But if you don’t get the stay lifted, you’re usually bound by it—and stuck on hold—until the debtor completes their case and gets their discharge, or has their case dismissed.
The main exceptions to the broad coverage of the automatic stay are criminal cases, and “domestic support obligations” (child support, mostly). An exception for landlords is if they got an eviction before bankruptcy was filed. They can enforce an eviction order they already got, but can’t try to get one without lifting the stay.
Bankruptcy judges come down hard on people who willfully violate the stay, by imposing penalties on top of just restoring the status quo. Violating the stay can be surprisingly easy, so talk to a lawyer.
