You can file Chapter 7 again, but not within eight years of the last one. The clock runs from the filing date of the prior case to the filing date of the new one, not from the discharge date, and that distinction has caught a lot of people who counted wrong.
File a day early and you get a case with no discharge, which is the worst of both worlds: the fees, the disclosure, and none of the relief.
Counting the eight years
Prior case filed March 14, 2018. The earliest you can file a new Chapter 7 and still receive a discharge is March 14, 2026. It does not matter that the discharge in the old case entered in August 2018, or that the case stayed open until 2020. Filing date to filing date. Pull the docket rather than trusting memory, because people are wrong about their own filing dates constantly, usually by several months and usually in the direction that hurts them.
The other waiting periods
| Prior case | New case | Wait from prior filing date |
|---|---|---|
| Chapter 7 | Chapter 7 | 8 years |
| Chapter 13 | Chapter 7 | 6 years, with exceptions if unsecured creditors were paid in full or nearly so |
| Chapter 7 | Chapter 13 | 4 years for a full discharge in the 13 |
| Chapter 13 | Chapter 13 | 2 years |
Those Chapter 13 numbers are why a second filing is so often a 13 rather than a 7. A Chapter 13 filed inside the four-year window still gets you the plan, the stay, and the ability to cure a mortgage default. It just does not end in a discharge of unsecured debt.
A case filed too early is not harmless
It gets docketed, you pay the $338, the stay applies for a while, and then the discharge is denied. Repeat filings hurt in another way too: if a prior case was dismissed within the past year, the stay in the new one expires after 30 days unless we move to extend it, and after two dismissals in a year there is no automatic stay at all without a motion to impose one. Those motions have to be filed and heard fast, which changes how a second case gets built from day one.
When a Chapter 13 is the real answer
If you are five years past a Chapter 7 and drowning again, a Chapter 13 still does substantial work. It stops a foreclosure, cures arrears over as long as five years, forces creditors into a payment plan, and buys you three to five years of protection while the eight-year clock finishes running. The Central District's no-look attorney fee for a non-business Chapter 13 is $7,000, most of it paid through the plan rather than up front, and the court filing fee is $313.
“Second filings carry a lot of shame with them. Most of the ones I handle involve a medical event or a divorce, not carelessness. The code contemplates that people file twice, which is exactly why it wrote a rule for it.”
Naomi Reyes-AshfordQuestions we get asked
What if my first case was dismissed, not discharged?
The eight-year bar applies to prior discharges. A dismissed case with no discharge does not start that clock, though the repeat-filing stay rules still apply.
Does the old bankruptcy still show on my credit report?
A Chapter 7 reports for ten years from the filing date. Since you cannot file again for eight, the first one will still be showing when the second is filed.
Can I file Chapter 13 now and convert to 7 later?
You can convert, but conversion does not defeat the eight-year rule. The discharge in the converted case is measured against the original filing date.
What if the debts are completely different this time?
It makes no difference. The waiting period runs on time between filings, not on which creditors are involved.
What to do next
Find your prior case number and filing date on PACER, or send us your full name and the district and we will look it up. That one date determines every option available to you right now.