Can the Utilities Be Turned off Once You Have Filed Bankruptcy in Ohio?
Filing bankruptcy is usually a difficult decision to make. Feeling overwhelmed by debt, having collectors call trying to collect, being threatened with a lawsuit or having your utilities turned off can often drive a person to a bankruptcy filing. Filing bankruptcy in Ohio, as well as in the other 49 states, will provide relief from continued collection efforts.
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What is Bankruptcy?
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Bankruptcy allows a consumer to either eliminate debt or reduce the debt owed. Whether the debt is eliminated or reduced depends upon the type of bankruptcy you qualify for and whether you have assets. Bankruptcy is a process that is governed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and you must follow strict rules and regulations when filing a bankruptcy. Ohio has eight bankruptcy court locations: Akron, Canton, Youngstown, Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus.
Utilities
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Once you file bankruptcy, a utility company cannot turn off your utilities unless you do not pay from that moment on. Disregard any amount previously owed before the date you filed bankruptcy, but make sure you pay all amounts due from that point on. If you fall behind on payments after you have filed bankruptcy, the utility company can shut off your utilities. Even if your utility company is outside of the state of Ohio, your services cannot be turned off. It is important to note that bankruptcy does not consider Internet service, cable TV or cell phones to be utilities.
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Turning Utilities On
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Contact the utility company if your service was already cut off. Provide the company with the name of the Ohio bankruptcy court that you filed your case with and the case number. You may be required to fax proof of the filing. The utility company must restore your service. The company can, however, ask you for a deposit to restore service. The company cannot ask you to pay any portion of the past due balance. The past due balance will be handled by the bankruptcy process. In many cases, the cost of paying a deposit is less than paying the past due balance.
Other Collections
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The moment you file your petition with one of the bankruptcy court locations in Ohio, all collection efforts on all debt must cease. This means garnishments must stop, foreclosure efforts must stop, any lawsuits must be halted. The creditor needs to know you have filed bankruptcy to be required to stop collection efforts. While the court will send out notification, this can take a few days after you file so be prepared to notify a creditor yourself with the bankruptcy information.
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