How to Fill Out and File the Reaffirmation Agreement Form in Bankruptcy

To fill out a reaffirmation agreement in bankruptcy, you complete Official Form B 2400A/B ALT and Cover Sheet Form 427, then file both with the bankruptcy clerk in the district where your Chapter 7 case is pending. The form has four parts: the loan terms and required disclosures, the agreement itself, an attorney certification if you have counsel, and your income-and-expense statement. It must reach the court before your discharge is entered and within 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors.¹ Both forms are available on the U.S. Courts website.²

File the Statement of Intention First

A reaffirmation agreement is the follow-through on an earlier document called the statement of intention. Every Chapter 7 debtor with property securing a debt must file that statement within 30 days of the petition or by the date of the creditors’ meeting, whichever comes first, indicating whether they intend to surrender, redeem, or reaffirm.³ You then have 30 days after the first date set for the creditors’ meeting to act on it. Miss either window and the automatic stay on personal property like a vehicle lifts on its own, freeing the creditor to repossess.⁴

Information to Gather Before You Start

Every number on the form has to be right. Errors force a refiling, and the deadline does not move.

The creditor’s full legal name, mailing address, and the contact for its bankruptcy department, not general customer service.
A description of the collateral. For a vehicle, that means the VIN; for real estate, the legal property description.
Current loan terms: outstanding balance, annual percentage rate, and monthly payment. If the rate is variable, note both the current rate and the index it tracks.
Your monthly gross income and your net income after taxes, Social Security, and other payroll deductions.
A complete monthly expense budget covering housing, utilities, food, transportation, insurance, and any other recurring costs. These numbers drive the undue hardship calculation the court will review.

Working Through the Four Parts

Part A: Disclosure Statement and Notice

Part A is the consumer-protection section. It requires a summary of the amount being reaffirmed, the annual percentage rate, a description of the security interest or lien, and an optional repayment schedule with payment amounts and due dates. It also contains the formal notice explaining your right to rescind and the consequences of reaffirming. Based on the figures you enter in Part D, the form flags whether a presumption of undue hardship applies.

Part B: The Agreement

Part B is the contract. It describes the original credit agreement and provides space to spell out any changes the creditor has agreed to, such as a reduced interest rate or an extended repayment period. You and the creditor both sign here. The creditor’s representative provides a printed name, signature, and the date the creditor accepted the agreement.

Part C: Attorney Certification

If you have a bankruptcy attorney, Part C is where they certify that the agreement is informed and voluntary, that it does not impose an undue hardship on you or your dependents, and that they fully advised you of the legal consequences of the agreement and of a possible default.⁵ When the numbers in Part D produce a presumption of undue hardship, Part C includes a checkbox where the attorney states an opinion that you can still afford the payments despite the presumption.

If you are unrepresented, leave Part C blank. The court will conduct its own review in place of an attorney’s certification, and a hearing becomes mandatory.

Part D: Your Debtor’s Statement of Income and Expenses

Part D is the section unrepresented debtors have to complete carefully. List your monthly income, list your monthly expenses, and show what remains available for the reaffirmed payment. A simplified certification replaces the full Part D breakdown when the creditor is a credit union and you have an attorney.

The Undue Hardship Math

The calculation is simple: total monthly income minus total monthly expenses. If what remains is less than the monthly payment on the reaffirmed debt, a presumption of undue hardship arises.¹ The presumption does not automatically defeat the agreement, but it triggers extra scrutiny. With counsel, your attorney must explain in Part C why you can still afford the payments. Without counsel, the presumption almost guarantees a hearing. Either way, be ready to explain additional income, expected raises, or expense reductions that close the gap. A judge who sees a budget deficit and no plausible explanation will deny the agreement.

Filing the Completed Form

File the reaffirmation agreement and Cover Sheet Form 427 with the bankruptcy clerk within 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors.¹ The agreement must also arrive before the court enters the discharge order. Those are two separate requirements, and both must be met. In a typical Chapter 7 case, discharge lands roughly 60 to 90 days after the creditors’ meeting, so the two clocks tend to overlap. Do not assume you have slack. Creditors can take weeks to sign and return their portion of the form, and missing the deadline usually means the debt gets discharged and the agreement never takes effect.

The Hearing When You Have No Attorney

Unrepresented debtors must appear in person at a court hearing. The judge will tell you reaffirmation is not required by law, explain what happens if you default, and evaluate the agreement against two standards: it must not impose an undue hardship, and it must be in your best interest.⁵ Expect questions about why you need the property, whether you could replace it for less, and how you plan to cover the payments alongside your other expenses.

The 60-Day Right to Rescind

After signing and filing, you can still back out. You may rescind the reaffirmation agreement at any time before discharge is entered or within 60 days after the agreement is filed with the court, whichever is later.⁵ Send the rescission notice in writing directly to the creditor, not the court. No specific format is required, but keep proof you sent it. Once the window closes and discharge is granted, the agreement is fully enforceable, and the creditor can sue you for any deficiency if you later default and the collateral does not cover the balance.

Two Boundaries Worth Knowing

Reaffirmation applies to secured debts in Chapter 7 — loans backed by collateral such as a vehicle, furniture, or a home.⁶ Unsecured debts like medical bills and ordinary credit cards are discharged outright and do not use this form. One wrinkle: credit unions often use cross-collateralization clauses that pledge a single piece of property, typically a vehicle, as collateral for every loan you hold there. If that language is in your contract, keeping the car may require reaffirming the credit card and personal loan as well.

Mortgages are treated differently. The court-approval requirement for unrepresented debtors does not apply to consumer debt secured by real property, and the mandatory hearing does not either.⁵ Many homeowners skip reaffirmation altogether and keep paying; the lien survives discharge, so the lender has no reason to foreclose on a current borrower. The trade-off is that most servicers stop reporting payments to the credit bureaus once the personal obligation is discharged without reaffirmation, which can slow credit recovery for years.

1
Cornell Law Institute. Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure Rule 4008 – Reaffirmation Agreement and Supporting Statement
2
United States Courts. Reaffirmation Agreement
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 521 – Debtor’s Duties
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 524 – Effect of Discharge
6
United States Courts. Chapter 7 – Bankruptcy Basics