A federal appeals court has upheld $50,000 in emotional distress and punitive damages awarded to day care owners whose former landlord continued to pursue debt collection against them—and physically confront them—after they declared bankruptcy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a ruling that Garth and Deborah Lansaw were entitled to $10,100 for emotional distress and $40,000 in punitive damages under bankruptcy law for property owner Frank Zokaites’ violation of their bankruptcy’s automatic stay of debt collection.
