I Got My Discharge In Chapter 13 And Now I Have New Debts…What Do I Do?

You worked for years (somewhere between 3-5 years) paying off your debts, and just when you thought you were done with debt collectors…..something bad happens. Something really bad and suddenly you are back where you started, in trouble financially and being pestered by bill collectors. And those collectors are telling you that there is nothing you can do—they know you filed for bankruptcy and they will tell you that you must pay or they will take your paycheck.

All hope is not lost! The 2005 amendments to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code did not take away all of a debtor’s rights, just lengthened time lines. If you filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and got a discharge after three - five years, you can file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy if six years have passed since your Chapter 13 filing (UNLESS you paid 100% in that chapter 13 or at least 70% with your very best efforts paying the bills),  OR, you can file another Chapter 13 case and get a discharge if only two years have passed since the filing of the first 13 to the discharge in the second 13. (The actual statute is vague about whether it is filing date to filing date for 13 to 13 or whether it is filing date to discharge date for 13 to 13). You can always file a bankruptcy, but you may not be able to get a discharge at the end of the case, BUT, you can still take advantage of the automatic stay protections under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Those protections are available to protect the property of the estate (meaning, your money).

Talk to an experienced attorney about what options you might have to protect yourself and your family from further financial problems.