How Long Can You File for a Chapter 7 Again
In a Nutshell
You can file defalcation as many times every bit y'all need to, but you usually have to expect between filings. The waiting period depends on several factors, including whether the initial bankruptcy case was dismissed or discharged, what chapter you filed in the beginning example, and what chapter you plan to file in your 2nd bankruptcy instance.
Unfortunately, filing for bankruptcy once doesn't make you immune from financial troubles for a lifetime. If you've filed for bankruptcy protection before and y'all're because filing again, you'll need to know near the filing rules and time limits. You lot tin file more than than i bankruptcy in a lifetime merely there are rules about how often you can file. Y'all'll also want to consider all of your debt relief options and know how a 2d bankruptcy case will impact your financial well-being. This article explores all of these considerations.
Is It Legal To File for Bankruptcy Twice?
It's legal to file as many bankruptcy cases as necessary, but there are rules well-nigh how often you can file. The U.S. Defalcation Code regulates multiple case filings, how long a filer must wait, and other specifics that we'll cover in detail beneath.
The mandatory waiting period between filings depends on several factors, including:
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The effect of your first defalcation example: If you received a bankruptcy discharge for your beginning case, the waiting catamenia earlier you can file once again is different than if your previous example was dismissed without discharge.
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The type of defalcation y'all filed before: Individuals and families more often than not file either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The fourth dimension limits before you're allowed to file again differ depending on the chapter of your previous filing.
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The chapter of bankruptcy you file the 2nd fourth dimension: The waiting catamenia between bankruptcy filings is affected by both the chapter of the previous bankruptcy and the affiliate you plan to file in the subsequent instance.
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The amount of fourth dimension that's passed since the filing engagement of your kickoff case.
What'southward the Mandatory Waiting Period Between a First and Second Bankruptcy Filing?
Under bankruptcy law, people can file for bankruptcy more than one time to become the fresh commencement they deserve. The mandatory waiting period between defalcation cases depends on whether the offset bankruptcy case was successfully discharged, whether your get-go bankruptcy case was a Chapter 7 (liquidation instance) or a Affiliate 13 (reorganization with repayment plan), and what affiliate of bankruptcy your 2d filing will exist.
Successful Discharge of First Defalcation Example
The ii main types of personal bankruptcy are Chapter vii and Chapter 13. Most individuals and families file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This is the quickest grade of bankruptcy. It'southward also known equally a liquidation bankruptcy, though the majority of filers become to keep most or all of their belongings.
It makes more sense for some people to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Under Chapter 13, your debts are reorganized and you lot pay on a repayment programme that lasts three to five years. This has benefits that Chapter seven doesn't.
Filers receive a bankruptcy discharge at the terminate of a successful Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 defalcation case. The discharge is a bankruptcy courtroom order that erases sure debts and means lenders can't always legally endeavor to collect on discharged debts again.
The following outlines when you can file bankruptcy again and exist eligible for a second belch. The clock starts ticking on the engagement you filed your first bankruptcy, not the date of discharge.
Filing Chapter 7 Later Chapter vii
You must wait viii years between Chapter 7 defalcation cases. To receive a second discharge, you must expect viii years from the date you lot filed your showtime successful Chapter seven case until you tin file your second Chapter vii instance.
Filing Chapter vii After Chapter 13
You must look vi years between filing a Affiliate 13 instance and filing a Chapter 7 case. This timeline starts on the date you filed your first successfully discharged Chapter 13 case. One time six years pass, you lot can file a second defalcation case under Chapter vii. The half-dozen-year waiting period can exist waived if you paid all of your unsecured creditors in total during the initial Chapter xiii bankruptcy payment plan. Unsecured debts include credit card debt, medical bills, and other debts not secured or backed up by belongings.
Filing Affiliate 13 Later Filing Chapter 7
You must expect iv years to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case after filing a Chapter 7 example. This iv-year waiting menses simply applies if y'all're hoping to receive a second belch of debt in your second defalcation filing.
In some instances, it might make sense for a person to file a Affiliate thirteen defalcation after receiving a discharge in a Affiliate vii but before the four-yr waiting period has passed. This is because Affiliate thirteen defalcation requires you to follow a payment programme to repay your debts. This can assist yous to catch up on missed payments.
As soon as you lot file bankruptcy, creditors must end all collection activeness confronting y'all because of the automated stay. This ways that filing for bankruptcy can stop a foreclosure, at least temporarily. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy can end a foreclosure while a person is in defalcation, but if you desire to keep your house you have to brand your monthly payments and catch upward on any missed payments.
A Chapter 13 bankruptcy includes a repayment program that allows you to make upwardly whatever missed mortgage payments over a three-to-five-year repayment programme. During this repayment program, generally, your business firm can't be foreclosed. This is why some people file Chapter 13 fifty-fifty though they're not seeking to have their debts discharged. In this case, it wouldn't be necessary to await four years between filings.
Filing Chapter 13 After Chapter thirteen
You must wait two years between Chapter xiii bankruptcy cases. To receive a second discharge of debts in Affiliate 13, you must wait 2 years from the filing date of your start successfully discharged Chapter 13 case until the filing engagement of your second Chapter xiii case.
All waiting periods between bankruptcy filings are calculated from the filing date of the kickoff instance, not the belch date.
First Defalcation Instance Non Discharged
At that place is a divergence between a bankruptcy example that's discharged and ane that's dismissed. If your first bankruptcy case was dismissed, you didn't receive a discharge and so yous may exist able to file a second bankruptcy case immediately. When a defalcation example is dismissed without a discharge, information technology means that none of the filer's debts are erased and they're still obligated to pay dorsum their debts.
Bankruptcy cases can be dismissed if:
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Y'all don't appear at a required defalcation hearing, including the 341 meeting of creditors.
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You lot fail to file all necessary documents properly and on time or fail to pay required defalcation filing fees.
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You don't pay the required Chapter thirteen plan payments.
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Y'all aren't truthful in your bankruptcy filing.
Depending on the reasons your example was dismissed, y'all may be able to file for bankruptcy protection again right abroad or you lot may need to wait before filing once again. Nether the Bankruptcy Code, yous must await 180 days to re-file a bankruptcy case if your outset case was dismissed past the bankruptcy courtroom for not following the courtroom'due south orders or actualization before the court when required.
Y'all may also need to expect 180 days before filing a 2d defalcation case if you asked for a voluntary dismissal of your first bankruptcy case after one of your creditors filed for relief from the automatic stay. This means that a creditor formally asked the court to let them continue collection action against you even though you filed for bankruptcy protection.
When people file a second bankruptcy example afterward a kickoff case is dismissed, the court will evaluate if the defalcation was filed in good faith. Good organized religion means that y'all're non trying to have advantage of the bankruptcy process. For example, if your first case is dismissed for failure to pay the necessary filing fee, it's generally okay for yous to file a second case immediately as long as you pay all necessary fees in the 2d case.
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Is It a Good Idea To File Bankruptcy a Second Fourth dimension?
Filing for defalcation is a powerful debt relief tool. You'll need to await at your fiscal state of affairs to decide whether filing a 2d bankruptcy case is a adept idea for you or non. Filing for defalcation will harm your credit score and negatively bear on your credit report, at least in the short term. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for 10 years from the filing date and a Chapter 13 defalcation for seven years.
While defalcation tin can impairment your credit, not filing tin also exist harmful due to missed payments, outstanding debts, and lawsuits for unpaid debts. If yous're facing a second defalcation after many years take passed, it's important to explore why yous're in this situation over again. Then take steps to ensure your financial well-existence moving forward.
In some cases, information technology'southward a good strategic financial move to file a second bankruptcy after a successful discharge. For example, you may benefit from filing a Chapter 13 later on a Chapter 7 discharge to gear up up a repayment program to pay off by-due mortgage payments to save your house, grab upwardly on kid back up arrears, or pay taxation debts that were too new to exist discharged in your Affiliate 7 bankruptcy case. In the instance of child back up arrears or back taxes, filing a Chapter thirteen second bankruptcy could help you avert wage garnishment and stretch out your repayment plan over three to five years. There are many valid benefits to filing a 2nd bankruptcy instance.
Abusive Bankruptcy Filings
The defalcation courtroom looks closely at cases that may be abusing the bankruptcy procedure. An calumniating bankruptcy filing could be a Chapter 7 filer that fails the means test. It could besides use to cases where an individual is inappropriately using the bankruptcy process to avoid paying back a debt, avoid a creditor, or buy time in a drove activeness, such as a foreclosure or awaiting lawsuit for unpaid debt.
The court frowns upon people who corruption the bankruptcy process or who have no intention of following through with their bankruptcy case. People who file multiple cases are more heavily scrutinized by the defalcation courts. Repeat filers may lose some of the benefits of defalcation protection. For example, the court may deny their discharge or revoke the automatic stay, which stops collection activity.
If You're Seeking a 2nd Financial Fresh Start, Get Professional Aid
Filing bankruptcy tin exist complex — filing successive bankruptcies can exist difficult, confusing, and financially dangerous if you don't plan well. An experienced bankruptcy attorney tin can help guide yous. Bankruptcy attorneys are well-versed in the pitfalls of bankruptcy and multiple filings, the advantages bankruptcy offers, and court requirements. Many bankruptcy lawyers offer gratuitous consultations.
Many people who are struggling with debt beginning their debt relief journey with credit counseling. Pre-defalcation credit counseling can help you evaluate all of your debt relief options, including bankruptcy, debt consolidation, debt settlement, and other debt direction options that may be right for you. Debt relief solutions are never one-size-fits-all. Yous demand to know what'southward best for you given your financial situation.
Let's Summarize…
It's possible to file defalcation as many times as you need to, merely yous usually need to wait betwixt filings. The waiting period depends on whether the initial bankruptcy instance was dismissed or discharged, what chapter you filed in the first case, and what chapter you lot plan to file in your second bankruptcy case. Bankruptcy can be a circuitous process, and information technology tin can be helpful to rent a bankruptcy attorney to assistance you navigate the procedure.
Defalcation is a powerful tool to assist you get your finances back on track. Just the goal is to avert having to file multiple bankruptcy cases. So if you notice that yous're facing financial hardship over and over, information technology may exist time to explore ways to prevent financial difficulties before they happen.
Source: https://upsolve.org/learn/file-bankruptcy-twice/
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