Virtually every person who comes here to file Bankruptcy ends up asking the same question:   What will a Bankruptcy filing do to my credit?  The simple answer to this questions is to say there is no simple answer.  I generally tell people if I could ruin their credit for life, by the filing of a Bankruptcy, I would do so.  If your credit was ruined for a lifetime you would never again have to see a Bankruptcy attorney in the future, and you could live out your life “debt free”.

In reality, most people who come to our office already have their credit ruined.  In general, the longer they wait to file their Bankruptcy, the longer it will take them to get their financial feet back on the ground.  I certainly believe the filing of a Bankruptcy is not good to have on your credit history; however, if your debt is more than you can ever repay, and your credit is already in the sewer, can a Bankruptcy filing really make it worse.  At least after you file Bankruptcy, you will not generally have any debt, and you can start “fresh”.

If you are dead set on having a new high credit score, you’ll need to start the process of incurring and paying off debt on a timely basis.  Then if you increase your income to some degree, you may find the Bankruptcy filing  was not much more than a distasteful small part of your past.  You should also consider if you are essentially debt free, have good income, and a re-established use of credit showing a new history of paying your debts, you are probably a good candidate for a bank loan.  If not, the banks will be closing their doors soon, as the number of people who file Bankruptcy make up a large part of the population.  I am confident the credit industry will not be able to stand it if they pass up the opportunity to take [rip off]  your money from you.