How Many Times Can You File Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

Federal law sets no limit on how many times you can file bankruptcy. What the Bankruptcy Code does limit is how soon you can receive another discharge after a prior one, and how much protection the automatic stay gives you when you file again quickly. Those two limits, not a filing cap, are what actually control repeat cases.

Waiting Periods Between Discharges

The gap you must wait depends on which chapter you filed before and which chapter you plan to file next. Every period is measured from the filing date of the prior case, not the date the discharge was entered.

Because a voluntary petition triggers the “order for relief” the same day it is filed, the practical measurement is filing date to filing date.

Filing Again Without Being Eligible for a Discharge

Nothing in the Code stops you from filing a fresh case before your waiting period runs. You just won’t receive a discharge at the end of it. People still do this, and the reason is almost always the automatic stay: the moment a petition is filed, most collection activity has to stop, including foreclosures, repossessions, lawsuits, and wage garnishments.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 362 – Automatic Stay

A Chapter 13 filed inside the four-year window after a Chapter 7 can stop a foreclosure sale and let the debtor catch up on mortgage arrears through a repayment plan, even though no discharge will issue at the end. Attorneys sometimes call this sequence “Chapter 20”: Chapter 7 first to erase personal liability on unsecured debts, then Chapter 13 to deal with the liens. Under the majority view among bankruptcy courts, a debtor who is not eligible for a Chapter 13 discharge can still use Chapter 13’s lien tools, including stripping a wholly underwater junior mortgage. Courts scrutinize these cases closely, and the debtor is locked into a three-to-five-year plan.

The Automatic Stay Shrinks for Repeat Filers

This is the sharpest penalty in the whole system, and it catches people who assume filing again will buy the same breathing room as the first time. It won’t.

If you had a bankruptcy case dismissed within the past year and you file a new one, the automatic stay expires after 30 days. To keep it in place, you have to file a motion, get a hearing, and prove the new case was filed in good faith, all before day 30. Miss the window and creditors can resume collection while your case is still open.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 362 – Automatic Stay

The rule tightens further on a third try. If two or more of your cases were dismissed within the past year, no automatic stay goes into effect at all when you file again. You get zero protection unless you affirmatively ask the court to impose it and prove good faith by clear and convincing evidence. The statute presumes a third filing in a year is not in good faith, so the burden to overcome that presumption is steep.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S.C. 362 – Automatic Stay

If your reason for filing again is mainly to stop a foreclosure or a garnishment, this is the rule to understand first. Filing does not guarantee the pause you got the first time.

The 180-Day Bar to Refiling

Separate from the stay rules, the Code blocks you outright from filing for 180 days after certain dismissals:

During that window you are ineligible to be a debtor at all. Congress put this rule in place to stop the pattern of filing, dismissing when a creditor pushes back, and immediately filing again to reset the stay.

Dismissal With Prejudice for Bad-Faith Filings

Courts have broad authority to shut down abusive repeat filings. A pattern of cases timed to block foreclosure sales, repeated failures to propose a workable plan, or filing with no genuine intent to reorganize can lead a court to dismiss “with prejudice,” barring the debtor from refiling for a set period. Some courts have imposed refiling bars of two years or longer.

The authority comes from three provisions working together: Section 1307(c) permits dismissal of a Chapter 13 for cause, including lack of good faith; Section 349(a) lets the court make a dismissal prejudicial to future cases; and Section 105(a) supplies general authority to prevent abuse of the bankruptcy process.

Costs and Credit Consequences Add Up

Every new case brings its own fees. As of 2026, filing fees are $338 for Chapter 7 and $313 for Chapter 13. Attorney fees typically run around $1,000 to $1,500 for a straightforward Chapter 7 and $2,500 to $4,000 or more for Chapter 13, with wide regional variation. A repeat case usually costs more in legal fees because the attorney has to work through the court’s heightened scrutiny.

Each bankruptcy stays on your credit report for up to 10 years from its filing date.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Long Does a Bankruptcy Appear on Credit Reports? Filings don’t overlap neatly on the report; each one restarts its own reporting window. Someone who files Chapter 7, waits the full eight years, and files again may carry a visible bankruptcy on their credit for close to 20 years. That is worth weighing before a second or third case, especially one that won’t produce a discharge.

Quick Reference

  • Chapter 7 after Chapter 7: 8 years from the earlier filing date.
  • Chapter 7 after Chapter 13: 6 years, with exceptions for high-percentage plans.
  • Chapter 13 after Chapter 7: 4 years from the earlier filing date.
  • Chapter 13 after Chapter 13: 2 years from the earlier filing date.
  • One dismissal in the past year: stay lasts only 30 days unless extended.
  • Two or more dismissals in the past year: no automatic stay unless the court imposes one.
  • Dismissal after a stay motion or for noncompliance: 180-day bar on refiling.