How Long After Bankruptcy Can You File Again?

How long you have to wait to file bankruptcy again depends on which chapter you filed before and which chapter you want to file next. The waiting periods run from two to eight years, measured from the filing date of the earlier case, and they only apply if that earlier case ended in a discharge. If your previous case was dismissed instead, you can usually refile right away, though other restrictions may kick in.

Here are the four combinations:

Chapter 7 after a previous Chapter 7 discharge: eight years
Chapter 13 after a previous Chapter 7 discharge: four years
Chapter 13 after a previous Chapter 13 discharge: two years
Chapter 7 after a previous Chapter 13 discharge: six years, with exceptions

Eight Years Between Chapter 7 Discharges

To get a discharge in a new Chapter 7 case, you have to wait eight years from the filing date of your previous Chapter 7.¹ This is the longest waiting period in the bankruptcy system.

Filing early is a costly mistake. The court will accept the petition and the automatic stay will temporarily halt collection activity, but the court will not grant you a discharge at the end. You go through the entire case and come out still owing the debts. The filing fee is non-refundable, and any attorney fees are gone too.

Four Years from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13

If waiting a full eight years is not practical, Chapter 13 relief may be available sooner. The waiting period to receive a Chapter 13 discharge after a Chapter 7 filing is four years.² This combination is sometimes called a “Chapter 20” bankruptcy and can help with debts Chapter 7 did not clear, like overdue mortgage payments or tax obligations. Under Chapter 13, you repay a portion of your debts over a three- to five-year court-approved plan.

Two Years Between Chapter 13 Discharges

If you completed a Chapter 13 plan and received a discharge, you can file a new Chapter 13 case and receive another discharge two years after the filing date of the first case.² Since Chapter 13 plans themselves last three to five years, the two-year clock has typically already run by the time your first case wraps up.

Six Years from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7, With Exceptions

Switching from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 generally requires a six-year wait from the filing date of the Chapter 13 case.¹ Two exceptions eliminate the wait entirely:

Your Chapter 13 plan paid 100% of allowed unsecured claims.¹
Your plan paid at least 70% of allowed unsecured claims, and the court finds you proposed the plan in good faith and it represented your best effort.³

The “best effort” standard is not automatic. A judge decides whether you genuinely put your available income toward the plan rather than hiding it or minimizing payments. If your income was low enough that 70% was legitimately all you could manage, that works in your favor.

When the Waiting Period Starts

Every waiting period is measured from the date the previous bankruptcy petition was filed, not the date the court granted the discharge or closed the case.³ This matters most in Chapter 13, where the discharge does not come until you finish a three- to five-year repayment plan. Someone who petitioned for Chapter 13 on January 1, 2021 and received a discharge in 2024 measures the clock from January 1, 2021.

If Your Previous Case Was Dismissed Rather Than Discharged

A dismissal is not the same as a discharge. Dismissal means the court closed your case without eliminating any debts, often because you missed paperwork deadlines, skipped required hearings, or fell behind on plan payments. The multi-year waiting periods above do not apply, because those rules govern how soon you can get another discharge after receiving one. How soon you can refile after a dismissal depends on how the dismissal happened.

Standard Dismissal

Under federal law, a standard dismissal does not prevent you from filing a new case or discharging debts that would have been dischargeable in the dismissed case.⁴ You can refile immediately. Most dismissals fall into this category and happen for procedural reasons like incomplete filings. Refiling quickly does trigger the automatic stay limits described below.

The 180-Day Filing Bar

Federal law bars you from filing any new bankruptcy case for 180 days if either of these happened:

The court dismissed your prior case because you willfully failed to follow court orders or appear before the court.
You asked the court to dismiss your own case after a creditor had already filed a motion to lift the automatic stay.

Both are found in Section 109(g) of the Bankruptcy Code.⁵ The second rule targets a specific cycle: filing bankruptcy to halt a foreclosure or repossession, dismissing the case once the immediate threat passes, then refiling later when the creditor tries again.

Dismissal With Prejudice

In more serious cases of abuse, a bankruptcy court can dismiss with prejudice, imposing a specific period during which you cannot file any new bankruptcy case. There is no fixed statutory time limit. The judge sets the duration based on the circumstances, which could be months or years. Courts typically reserve this for bad faith, unreasonable delay that harms creditors, or repeated abuse of the bankruptcy process.

The Automatic Stay Trap for Repeat Filers

Even when you are eligible to refile, the automatic stay, the legal shield that halts lawsuits, wage garnishments, and foreclosures the moment you file, behaves very differently for repeat filers. This is where filers who move quickly after a dismissal often get burned.

If you had one bankruptcy case dismissed within the year before your new filing, the automatic stay in the new case expires after 30 days.⁶ To keep it in place, you must file a motion before the 30 days run and convince the judge, at a hearing, that the new case was filed in good faith and that your circumstances have genuinely changed.⁷ The law presumes the new case was not filed in good faith if the prior case was dismissed because you failed to file required documents, failed to follow a confirmed plan, or if your financial situation has not meaningfully changed. Overcoming that presumption requires clear and convincing evidence.

If you had two or more cases dismissed within the year before your new filing, you get no automatic stay at all. Creditors can continue garnishing wages, pursuing foreclosure, and taking other collection actions as if you had never filed.⁶ You can ask the court to impose one, but the same good-faith presumption applies and the burden is on you.⁷ Someone facing an imminent foreclosure who files a third case expecting instant relief will find that the filing alone does nothing to stop the sale.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 727 – Discharge
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 1328 – Discharge
3
United States Bankruptcy Court. Prior Bankruptcy – How Soon Can I Get Another Discharge
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 349 – Effect of Dismissal
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 109 – Who May Be a Debtor
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
7
United States Bankruptcy Court. The Effect of Repeat Filing on the Automatic Bankruptcy Stay