My question involves bankruptcy in the state of: New Jersey
A friend of mine recently filed a Chapter 13. Before he actually filed, he had a small claims case pending against him and he listed the Plaintiff as a creditor in his Chapter 13. The Small Claims Court date is this week. The Plaintiff in the small claims case has an attorney. My question is, what happens now with the small claims case? I am assuming that now that the Chapter 13 is filed, and there is a bankruptcy case number, and the Plaintiff was notified of the bankruptcy filing as a creditor, the automatic stay goes into effect and the case cannot be heard unless the Plaintiff obtains a lift of the automatic stay through the bankruptcy court. And, wouldn't it be a violation of the automatic stay if the Plaintiff's attorney tries to pursue the small claims case this week?
Does my friend even need to appear in court on the small claims case?
I, of course, told my friend to ask his bankruptcy attorney if he still needs to go to court on the small claims case, or what he should do regarding the case before the court date. But, I thought that I would also ask here for any thoughts or information.
The small claims case is in New Jersey, and it is not an eviction case. It is a case where a former tenant (the Plaintiff) is suing my friend (the tenant's former landlord) alleging that the tenant-Plaintiff should have received more of his security deposit back.

