When Can I File Chapter 7 Again? 8-Year and 6-Year Waits

You can file Chapter 7 bankruptcy again eight years after the filing date of your previous Chapter 7 case. If your earlier case was a Chapter 13, or if it was dismissed rather than discharged, the wait is different, and in some situations there’s no wait at all. Getting the timing wrong means the court will deny your discharge, leaving your debts intact and a fresh bankruptcy on your record.

Eight Years After a Prior Chapter 7

The longest wait applies when both cases are Chapter 7. You must wait eight full years before you can receive another Chapter 7 discharge.¹ The clock starts on the date you filed the first petition, not the date the court granted your discharge or closed the case. That distinction matters because months typically pass between filing and discharge.

If you filed your first Chapter 7 on March 15, 2020, you’d be eligible to receive a second discharge on or after March 15, 2028. You can technically submit paperwork before the eight years are up, but there’s no reason to. You’d go through the whole process only to have the discharge denied.

Six Years After a Prior Chapter 13

If your last bankruptcy was a Chapter 13 that ended in discharge, the wait drops to six years from the filing date of that Chapter 13.¹ The measurement is the same: filing date to filing date.

Two exceptions can eliminate that six-year wait entirely. The first applies if your Chapter 13 plan paid 100% of allowed unsecured claims — debts such as credit cards, medical bills, and personal loans. If those creditors were paid in full, you can file Chapter 7 immediately with no waiting period.²

The second exception applies if your plan paid at least 70% of unsecured claims. You must also show the court that you proposed the plan in good faith and that it was your best effort to repay creditors given your income and expenses at the time.¹ This is a higher bar than simply hitting 70%. The court has discretion to deny the exception if it thinks you could have paid more.

Chapter 13 When Chapter 7 Isn’t Available Yet

If the eight-year or six-year window hasn’t closed, Chapter 13 may still be an option. The waits for a Chapter 13 discharge are shorter:

Four years from the filing date of a prior Chapter 7 case before you can receive a Chapter 13 discharge.³
Two years from the filing date of a prior Chapter 13.³

This creates a practical option many people overlook. Say you received a Chapter 7 discharge three years ago and are drowning in new debt. Another Chapter 7 discharge is still five years away, but Chapter 13 may be available in one more year. Chapter 13 requires a three- to five-year repayment plan rather than a quick liquidation, and it stops collection actions and can restructure debts like mortgage arrears or car loans.

Filing After a Dismissed Case

A dismissed case is different from a discharged one. Discharge wipes out qualifying debts. Dismissal means the court ended your case before completion and your debts remain intact. The refiling rules after dismissal depend on why the case was dismissed.

No Mandatory Wait After a Routine Dismissal

As a general rule, dismissal does not prevent you from filing again.⁴ If the court dismissed your case for a routine procedural reason, such as a missed paperwork deadline, there’s no mandatory waiting period. Fix the problem and refile.

The 180-Day Bar

A 180-day wait applies in two specific situations. First, if the court dismissed your case because you willfully disobeyed a court order or failed to appear for a required hearing. Second, if you voluntarily dismissed your own case after a creditor had already asked the court to lift the automatic stay, which is the protection that halts foreclosures, repossessions, and lawsuits while your case is active.⁵

That second scenario targets a specific abuse pattern: filing to freeze a creditor’s collection action, dismissing once the immediate threat passes, then filing again to freeze it once more. The 180-day bar breaks that cycle.

Dismissal With Prejudice

In rare cases, a court may dismiss with prejudice, explicitly barring the debtor from refiling for a set period. The general rule that dismissal doesn’t prevent refiling applies only when the court hasn’t ordered otherwise.⁴ Judges typically impose this when they see a pattern of bad-faith filings. The length varies, since the court has broad discretion.

Being Allowed to File Isn’t the Same as Getting Full Protection

Even when the waiting-period rules let you file, repeat filings come with a catch that surprises many people: reduced protection from the automatic stay. The stay is what makes bankruptcy immediately useful, because it forces creditors to stop collections, lawsuits, wage garnishments, and foreclosure proceedings the moment you file. For repeat filers, that shield shrinks or disappears.

One Prior Case Dismissed Within the Last Year

If you had a bankruptcy case pending at any point in the previous year that was dismissed, the automatic stay in your new case expires after just 30 days.⁶ After that, creditors can resume collection. You can ask the court to extend the stay, but the motion and hearing must be completed before the 30 days run out. You’ll need to convince the judge that your new case was filed in good faith, and the law presumes it was not. You have to overcome that presumption with clear and convincing evidence.

Two or More Prior Cases Dismissed Within the Last Year

If two or more cases were pending and dismissed in the previous year, no automatic stay takes effect at all when you file.⁶ Creditors can continue collecting as if no bankruptcy exists. You can ask the court to impose a stay, but the same good-faith burden applies, and the presumption against you is even harder to overcome. If you’ve had two dismissed cases in one year, filing a third without a real change in your financial situation is unlikely to accomplish much.

Waiting Periods at a Glance

Chapter 7 after Chapter 7: 8 years from the prior filing date.¹
Chapter 7 after Chapter 13: 6 years from the prior filing date, waivable if you paid 100% of unsecured claims, or 70% with good faith and best effort.¹
Chapter 13 after Chapter 7: 4 years from the prior filing date.³
Chapter 13 after Chapter 13: 2 years from the prior filing date.³
After a routine dismissal: no mandatory waiting period.⁴
After a bad-faith dismissal: 180 days.⁵

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 – Discharge
2
United States Bankruptcy Court – Central District of California. Prior Bankruptcy, If I Had A Prior Bankruptcy, How Soon Can I Get Another Discharge
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 1328 – Discharge
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 349 – Effect of Dismissal
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay