Federal bankruptcy law sets no cap on how many times you can file bankruptcy. What the law does control is how often you can receive a discharge — the court order that actually erases qualifying debts. Depending on the chapter you filed before and the chapter you want to file now, you’ll face a waiting period of two to eight years between discharges. File sooner than that and the court will take your paperwork and your fees, then refuse to wipe anything out at the end.
The Four Waiting Periods Between Discharges
Each waiting period runs from the filing date of the earlier case, not the discharge date and not the closing date. Mixing those up is one of the most expensive mistakes in repeat filings.
- Chapter 7 after a prior Chapter 7: eight years from the first filing date.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 727 – Discharge
- Chapter 13 after a prior Chapter 7: four years from the Chapter 7 filing date.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge
- Chapter 7 after a prior Chapter 13: six years from the Chapter 13 filing date, with an important exception below.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 727 – Discharge
- Chapter 13 after a prior Chapter 13: two years from the first Chapter 13 filing date. This is the shortest wait on the books.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge
When the Six-Year Wait Goes Away
The six-year gap between a Chapter 13 and a later Chapter 7 doesn’t apply in every case. If your Chapter 13 plan paid 100 percent of your unsecured creditors’ allowed claims, you can turn around and file Chapter 7 immediately. You also qualify to skip the wait if you repaid at least 70 percent of those claims and the court finds the plan was proposed in good faith and was your best effort.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 727 – Discharge Pay less than 70 percent and the full six years apply, with no workaround.
What If Your Earlier Case Was Dismissed?
The discharge waiting periods only count cases that ended in a discharge. A dismissed case — one closed without erasing any debt — doesn’t start the two, four, six, or eight-year clock. In most situations you can refile right away. Dismissals happen for all kinds of reasons: missing documents, skipping a required course, or voluntarily pulling your own petition.
One scenario still blocks you. You cannot file any new bankruptcy for 180 days if the court dismissed your previous case because you willfully disobeyed a court order or failed to appear, or if you voluntarily dismissed your own case after a creditor had already moved to lift the automatic stay.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor The rule exists to stop people from filing just to freeze a foreclosure or repossession, then dropping the case once the immediate pressure lifts.
Repeat Filings Weaken the Automatic Stay
The waiting periods are only half the story. The other half is what happens to your protection from creditors when you file again. The automatic stay is the order that halts lawsuits, wage garnishments, foreclosures, and most other collection activity the moment you file. First-time filers get it in full and for the entire case. Repeat filers get much less.
One Dismissed Case in the Past Year
If you had a bankruptcy case pending at any point in the previous twelve months and it was dismissed, the automatic stay in your new case lasts only 30 days. To keep it going, you have to file a motion before day 30 and convince the judge your new filing is in good faith.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
The law presumes your new case is not in good faith if more than one case was dismissed in the prior year, if the previous dismissal came from failing to file required documents or follow court orders, or if your financial situation hasn’t materially changed. You can rebut the presumption, but only with clear and convincing evidence.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
Two or More Dismissed Cases in the Past Year
If you had two or more cases pending in the previous year and both were dismissed, the automatic stay doesn’t take effect at all when you file the new one. Creditors can keep foreclosing, garnishing, and suing as though no bankruptcy exists. You can ask the court to impose a stay by motion within 30 days, but you’re arguing against the same presumption of bad faith.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
In Rem Orders on Real Estate
Creditors with liens on real property have one more tool. If a court finds your filing was part of a scheme to delay or hinder a secured creditor through unauthorized transfers or repeated filings against the same property, it can enter an “in rem” order that attaches to the property itself. Once recorded in the local land records, that order kills the automatic stay for that property in any bankruptcy filed within the next two years.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
Filing Without a Discharge: Chapter 20
Some people file knowing they can’t get a discharge, and there’s a reason. The informal name is “Chapter 20”: a Chapter 13 filed right after a Chapter 7 discharge (7 + 13). The Chapter 7 wiped out credit cards, medical bills, and other unsecured debts. The Chapter 13 that follows isn’t trying to erase anything — it’s a three-to-five-year court-supervised plan to catch up on mortgage arrears or restructure other secured debt, with the automatic stay holding foreclosure off during the plan. In some federal circuits, Chapter 20 debtors can also strip a wholly underwater second mortgage, reclassifying it as unsecured.
The cost is that no Chapter 13 discharge will issue if the Chapter 7 was filed within the previous four years.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge Any new debts you take on during the plan will outlive it. The strategy only makes sense when the point is restructuring secured debt, not erasing fresh obligations.
Requirements That Reset Every Time You File
Every filing is treated as a fresh case for the pre-filing requirements. You have to complete a credit counseling session with an approved nonprofit agency within 180 days before you file your petition, no matter how many bankruptcies you’ve been through.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor An old certificate doesn’t carry over. A separate debtor education course is required after filing but before discharge. Courts can waive counseling for a disability, active military duty in a combat zone, or if no approved agency serves your district.
A second Chapter 7 also requires passing the means test again. The test compares your household income to the state median and looks at your disposable income. Clearing it once doesn’t exempt you from clearing it the next time, and if your income has climbed, Chapter 13 may be your only option.
What Multiple Filings Do to Your Credit
Each filing produces its own entry on your credit report. Federal law lets credit reporting agencies include a bankruptcy for up to ten years from the date of the order for relief.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports The three major bureaus voluntarily drop Chapter 13 cases after seven years, though the statute permits the full ten.
When you file more than once, the reporting windows overlap. A Chapter 7 in year one and a Chapter 13 in year five can both appear on your report at the same time for several years. Lenders see both. Multiple filings carry much heavier weight against a credit application than a single case, and rebuilding takes longer. That reality — plus the lost filing fees and attorney costs on any repeat case that doesn’t produce a discharge — is a strong argument for waiting out the full eligibility period before filing again.