If You Filed Bankruptcy Just Before the 2005 “Reform,” When Exactly Can You File Again?

Posted by Kevin on March 11, 2015 under Bankruptcy Blog | Comments are off for this article

You can file a new case 8 years after filing before (so, now or very soon), or possibly only 6 or 4 or 2 years after, or maybe even with no delay.

 

The Bankruptcy Code underwent major amendments effective October 17, 2005.  Nearly two and a half million bankruptcies were filed in the year before that date, by far the most in any year-long period in history.

Today, we focus on the rules relating to the length of time required from a previous bankruptcy filing until a new one.

More precisely the timing rule refers to the amount of time from the filing of a previous bankruptcy case which resulted in the discharge of debts until the filing of another case also resulting in the discharge of debts.

“Discharge” is the legal write-off of debts provided by the bankruptcy law. It’s the main reason—but often not the only reason—for filing bankruptcy.

If you filed a previous personal bankruptcy—whether it was a Chapter 7 “straight” bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts” payment plan—and your understanding is that you finished it successfully, almost certainly you received a discharge of your debts. Near the end of your case you should have received a copy of an order from the bankruptcy court granting you a discharge. If you do have your old bankruptcy documents, bring them to your present attorney. If you don’t, he or she should still be able to determine whether or not you received a discharge.

Finding this out is important because, in the unlikely event that you did not get a discharge, then you do not have to wait any period of time before you can file a new bankruptcy case. (The rare exception is if the bankruptcy court entered an order not allowing you to file a bankruptcy for a certain length of time, which only happens after serious abuse of the bankruptcy laws.)

The Timing Rules

Here is how long you must wait in between bankruptcy filings to receive a discharge of debts in a new bankruptcy case.

IF you want to now file a Chapter 7 case:

–and received a discharge in a previous Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 case, you must wait 8 years from the filing date of the previous case to the filing date of the new case;

–and received a discharge in a previous Chapter 13 case, you must wait 6 years from the filing date of the previous case to the filing date of the new case, BUT you don’t have to wait at all if in that Chapter 13 case you paid 100% of the allowed debts, or paid at least 70% and met some other conditions.

  IF you want to now file a Chapter 13 case:

–and received a discharge in a previous Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 or Chapter 12 case, you must wait 4 years from the filing date of the previous case to the filing date of the new case;

–and received a discharge in a previous Chapter 13 case, you must wait 2 years from the filing date of the previous case to the filing date of the new case.

IF you want to file a Chapter 11 case, the timing rules are the same as for Chapter 7 above.

(Note that Chapter 11 is usually for a business, or for a huge amount of debt; Chapter 12 is for farmers and fishermen.)

It’s important to understand that the date the discharge was entered in the previous case does not matter. It’s the filing date that starts the clock running here.

So You Can File Soon, or Possibly Now

So, under any  combination—7 to 7, 7 to 13, 13 to 7, 13 to 13, 7 to 11 etc.,  you can file now.