will my employer and/or landlord be notified that I have declared bankruptcy?
If I were to follow all of the rules as outlined by the trustee concerning the bankruptcy process, would I be protected under the law such as FIPP to not have my employer and /or landlord advised and/or contacted for any kind of information specific to the bankruptcy? Or by declaring bankruptcy do I automatically forego my legal rights to privacy concerning my employer and /or landlord being made aware of the situation? What specific circumstances would normally need to be in place to legally allow my employer and/or landlord to be advised/contacted for information?
There are two reasons that come to mind that might require your trustee to contact your employer:
1) If you fail to provide all of your income properly – if your trustee is not confident that you are co-operating with the bankruptcy process that you may not be declaring all of your income, your trustee has the right to contact your employer; or
2) If one of your creditors serves your employer with the documents required to garnishee your wages your trustee will be required to send them the proper documents to stop the garnishee.
As far as your landlord goes, the only time a trustee contacts a landlord is when they appear on your list of creditors (people that you owe money to when you start your bankruptcy).
I hope that helps alleviate some of your concerns. Contact a trustee in your area and ask them these same questions again just to be certain there won’t be any surprises…