Prior to St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., it was possible that only the trustee would have brought a stay violation, but might choose not to for financial reasons and therefore in effect, permit a stay violation to occur with no punishment for the violator, and no recourse for the injured parties. Yet now, the Fifth Circuit’s interpretation of “individual” in section 362(k) to include creditors, treats all creditors uniformly by not permitting some stay violations to go unpunished and is in line with the overarching bankruptcy policy of equal treatment of creditors.[14] However, this interpretation may face some trouble in the future if many creditors begin to take advantage of their standing, and may potentially dilute the trustee’s power as the gatekeeper or result in unnecessary, tedious litigation. [15]
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