Yes, the filing of a bankruptcy petition stops harassing phone calls. Under 11 U.S.C. §362, the ‘Automatic Stay’ of the Bankruptcy Code, any attempt to collect a debt becomes illegal and subject to being held in Contempt of the Bankruptcy Court. After you have filed a bankruptcy petition, any communication via letter, fax, email, phone, cell phone, lawsuit, etc. from a creditor or bill collector is illegal. The violation is subject to the contempt powers of the Court. And even if you haven’t filed for bankruptcy, there are two Federal Laws which provide protection from harassing phone calls, namely, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, (FDCPA) found at 15 U.S.C. § 1692 and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, (TCPA) found at 47 U.S.C. §227. Under the TCPA, if someone calls you on your cell phone without permission to collect a debt, this is a per se violation of the law and you are entitled to damages of $500-$1,500 per phone call! Our office handles many of these cases and this is prior to filing for any bankruptcy.