One collection action against a debtor in bankruptcy can cost you more than the debt.
Violating the automatic stay means damages, attorney's fees, and sometimes punitive awards. StayClearance puts one simple check between your queue and the courthouse: bankruptcy clearance with reviewer sign-off, matter holds, and an audit-ready certificate, so no one on your team ever takes that step blind.
- Human review, not auto-clear
- Audit-ready clearance certificate
- Search errors = do not proceed
- Expired clearance = re-check required
Free tier · no credit card · upgrade when your portfolio grows
One missed filing pays for years of checking. Willful stay violations carry actual damages, attorney fees, and in some cases punitive damages.
Pre-action check
Can I take action today?
- MTR-0407Sunrise Restaurant Co.Clear
- MTR-0412Harbor View HotelsReview
- MTR-0398Metro Auto Parts LLCHold
- MTR-0384Coastal CateringExpired
- MTR-0362NE Logistics & FreightFailed
Review queue · 1 pending
MTR-0412 · Possible Chapter 11 match in S.D. Fla. · needs reviewer.
Automatic stays are easy to violate
and expensive to fix.
A debtor files. An automatic stay snaps into place under 11 U.S.C. § 362. Any collection, enforcement, or litigation action against that debtor, even one filed days later, can become a violation.
Willful violations carry actual damages, attorney fees, and in some cases punitive damages, plus the cost of unwinding the action and explaining it to your client. One missed filing pays for years of checking.
Filings and enforcement happen without a check
Demand letters, lawsuits, judgment renewals, garnishments. They move through queues that don't know whether the debtor has filed.
Debtors, DBAs, guarantors and related entities all matter
A match isn't just on the obligor. Guarantors, related entities, and DBAs all create exposure that name-only searches miss.
Manual checks are inconsistent at best
Someone is supposed to check before action. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, and nobody can prove either way.
Generic monitoring tools don't fit the workflow
A search box doesn't gate an action. A workflow does, with a queue, a hold, a reviewer, and an artifact.
See it in action
Watch it catch one.
Thirty-five seconds: a routine enforcement, a Chapter 11 match nobody saw coming, and the filing that never happened.
MTR-0412
Harbor View Hospitality LLC
Balance $127,500 · Enforcement
Tuesday, 9:14 AM. Your team is ready to enforce. It looks routine.
A clearance step before every collection action.
Upload matters
Import via CSV or create matters manually. Only SSN/EIN last-4 are stored, encrypted at rest.
Run clearance
Check the matter against configured bankruptcy court records before any action.
Review flags
Possible matches route to your designated reviewer: confirm clear, confirm hold, or request info.
Proceed, hold, document
Cleared matters get a certificate. Confirmed bankruptcies place a hold. Every step is audited.
Built for the workflow, not a search box.
Each capability ties to a real moment in the collection process.
Can I take action today?
One dashboard answers the only question that matters before a demand letter, levy, or lawsuit goes out, across every active matter, at a glance.
Automatic re-checks
Clearances expire, and people forget. On paid plans, monitored matters re-check themselves automatically when their window lapses and email your team if anything isn't clear. Filings get caught while you sleep, not after the letter went out.
Resume-collection alerts
A held debt isn't a dead debt. When a debtor's bankruptcy is dismissed and the automatic stay lifts, StayClearance emails you: this matter may be collectible again. Money your competitors write off, you recover.
Name-variant matching
Court records say “Acme Widgets.” Your file says “Acme Widgets LLC.” A plain search misses the filing; ours checks the spelling variants automatically, because a missed match is the most expensive mistake in collections.
Reviewer sign-off queue
Possible matches route to your designated reviewer: an attorney, a compliance officer, or your own expert eyes. Confirm clear, confirm hold, or request more info. Nothing is auto-cleared.
Matter holds
One confirmed bankruptcy places a hold the whole team sees, so no collector, old task list, or autopilot letter quietly violates the stay.
Bankruptcy Clearance Certificate
Proof you checked, when, against what, and who signed off: the one-page answer when a judge, client, or E&O carrier asks “how do you know you could collect?”
Monthly compliance pack
A printable monthly summary of everything screened, caught, reviewed, and certified: the report your compliance officer forwards instead of writes.
Bulk import & batch checks
Upload thousands of matters by CSV, then clear the whole backlog with one button: progress bar, per-row audit trail, and only the matters that need checking get searched.
DBA / guarantor / related-party tracking
The debtor is clear, but is the guarantor? Matters carry DBA and guarantor identity so the search covers everyone you'd actually pursue.
Audit-ready activity history
Every check, view, decision, export, and identifier access is logged per organization, append-only by design. When someone asks “who knew what, when?”, you have the answer.
Role-based review controls
Owner, admin, reviewer, staff, and read-only: each role sees only what its job needs, so screening authority stays where you put it.
A clearance certificate compliance can read.
Every cleared matter produces a StayClearance Bankruptcy Clearance Certificate naming the matter, the searched data, the reviewer who reviewed it, the expiry, and the audit ID.
- Issued per-organization; never leaves the tenant boundary.
- Stamped with the reviewer's identity and the audit ID, not a generic system note.
- Time-bounded: expired clearances are surfaced as “rerun before action.”
- Backed by an append-only activity log of every check, view, and decision.
StayClearance
Bankruptcy Clearance Certificate
Matter
MTR-0407
Sunrise Restaurant Supply Inc.
- Searched
- May 25, 2026 · 10:42 AM
- Reviewed by
- Dana Alvarez, Esq.
- Expires
- Jun 24, 2026
- Source
- Mock PACER (dev)
- Organization
- Northwind Recovery Group
- Audit ID
- a35c48c · f4a67ca
Issued by StayClearance · Audit trail retained per
organization policy.
A workflow product, not a search tool.
Generic bankruptcy tools answer “did someone file?” StayClearance answers “can we take action today?”, with the workflow, review, and audit artifact that question actually requires.
StayClaim: because a bankruptcy hold isn't always the end of the money.
Some held cases get dismissed, and StayClearance already alerts you when a dismissal means collection may lawfully resume. For debtors who stay in bankruptcy, creditors recover through a proof of claim instead. StayClaim will prepare the packet from the live court record: case details, the bar date, a prefilled draft Form B410 for your attorney's review, and a link to the court's electronic filing portal. Preparation only; your counsel always files.
Planned as a flat-rate add-on for paid plans. Waitlist members shape it and hear first.
Creditor teams that can't afford a missed stay.
Collection law firms
File suits, judgments, and post-judgment actions with a clearance step on every matter.
MCA companies
Add clearance before confessions of judgment, UCC enforcement, or set-off.
Commercial funders
Gate enforcement on advances and lines of credit before exposure compounds.
Debt buyers
Validate portfolios before scaled collection, suit, or transfer.
Judgment creditors
Clear before garnishment, levy, or judgment renewal.
Factoring / AR finance
Run clearance before chasing receivables across many obligors.
In-house legal & compliance
Standardize the “should we proceed?” question across the team with a defensible record.
Every plan is the full product.
Plans differ by how many matters you monitor, and paid plans add automatic re-checks. Start free, upgrade in the app when your portfolio grows. No sales call required.
Enterprise
Custom
Unlimited matters
SSO, custom terms
Every plan includes: clearance checks · reviewer sign-off queue · matter holds · clearance certificates · append-only audit trail · CSV import & full export · unlimited team members & roles
Paid plans add: automatic re-checks on clearance expiry · resume-collection alerts when a held debtor's case is dismissed · priority monitoring (weekly case watch) for the matters you flag, with email alerts whenever anything needs attention.
Prices per organization, per month. Court-record search fees: searches run against live federal court records via PACER, which charges by the page. We pass that through at 15¢ per page; a typical check is 1–3 pages, so most checks cost under 50¢, itemized on your monthly invoice. Prefer to pay the courts directly? Connect your firm's own PACER account and StayClearance adds no search fees at all. PACER even waives charges entirely below $30/quarter.
Common questions.
Is there really a free tier?
Yes. Sign up and monitor up to 5 matters at no cost, and it's the complete product, not a trial: clearance runs, review queue, matter holds, certificates, and the audit trail. No credit card. When your portfolio outgrows 5 matters, upgrade in the app; paid plans raise the matter cap and add automatic re-checks on clearance expiry.
What happens after a debtor files bankruptcy?
The matter goes on hold, and then StayClearance keeps watching. Many bankruptcies never reach discharge: cases get dismissed for missed plan payments, deficient filings, or bad-faith stalls, and when that happens the automatic stay lifts and the debt survives. On paid plans we monitor held matters' cases and email you when a dismissal means collection may resume, pending your reviewer's confirmation. Flag a high-balance or suspected bad-faith matter for priority monitoring and its case is checked weekly.
Is my data locked in?
No. Your records are yours. Export your full matter list with every clearance outcome (status, dates, reviewer sign-off) and your complete audit trail as CSV, any time, with one click. The dashboard even reminds you when it's been a while since your last export, so you always hold your own copy of your records.
Is StayClearance legal advice?
No. StayClearance is a workflow tool. It surfaces possible matches and produces an audit trail; your team still makes the final call.
Who reviews flagged matters?
Your designated reviewer: a collections attorney, a compliance officer, a bankruptcy specialist, or you. Possible matches enter a review queue where that person confirms clear, confirms hold, or requests more information. Auto-clearing is not an option.
What about PACER or other data-source fees?
You pay for what you search: PACER charges by the page and we pass it through at 15¢ per page; a typical check is 1-3 pages, so most checks cost under 50 cents, itemized on your monthly invoice. Automatic monitoring re-checks bill the same way. Or connect your firm's own PACER account and pay the courts at cost with no StayClearance search fees. PACER waives billing entirely under $30 per quarter.
Can I recover anything from a debtor who stays in bankruptcy?
Often, yes: creditors file a proof of claim in the case. StayClaim, a planned add-on, will prepare the packet from the court record (case details, the bar date, a prefilled draft Form B410 for your attorney's review, and the court's filing portal). Preparation only; your counsel files. Join the waitlist from the StayClaim section above to hear first.
Do you handle DBAs and guarantors?
Yes. Matters carry debtor, DBA, and guarantor identity. Review covers the actual exposure surface, not just the obligor name.
What's in the audit trail?
Every clearance run, matter view, review decision, export, and identifier access: scoped per organization, timestamped, and not editable by users in the product.
How are sensitive identifiers handled?
Only SSN/EIN last-4 are stored. Values are encrypted at rest, masked on display (e.g., ***-**-1234), and only visible to roles that need them. Every access is logged.
What happens when a search fails?
A failed or incomplete search is explicitly flagged “do not proceed” and never silently treated as clear. It must be re-run before any action.
Never take action against a protected debtor again.
One clearance step between your queue and the courthouse. Before you file. Before you enforce. Get clearance.
Free tier needs no credit card. Demos are a 20-minute walkthrough with your matters in mind, no commitment.