Bankruptcy is an item that is part of the public record. The credit bureaus regularly review these public bankruptcy records in order to add these items to the credit reports of the people who are bankrupt. It is impossible to escape detection and not have your bankruptcy appear on your credit report.
A bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for a minimum of seven years. A second bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for fourteen years. A third bankruptcy might never come off.
Many creditors will be reluctant to grant credit to you if you have been recently discharged. After bankruptcy, your credit score will plummet or disappear altogether. So plan on living on cash for a while. As time wears on and your discharge date fades further and further into the past, your chances of credit approval will start to increase again.
If you are declared bankrupt then you are not allowed to make any payments directly to your creditors. Instead, any creditors to whom you owe money have to make a claim to your trustee.
