Life After Bankruptcy Discharge In Las Vegas

Bankruptcy can make your life better in a wide variety of ways if you struggle with debt. Having less stress in your life due to barely keeping up with your bills and dodging collection efforts from creditors could have a substantial impact. At the same time, there are obstacles and inconveniences a bankruptcy debtor will face after discharge. When bankruptcy is planned carefully and filed strategically, it should overall make the debtor’s life far better after discharge. But it’s still natural to feel at least a little bit apprehensive about declaring bankruptcy. Read on to learn more about how your life may be different after completing a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy case in Las Vegas, Nevada. To schedule your free consultation with a high-quality, low-cost bankruptcy firm, call 702-370-0155. 

Can I Rent an Apartment After Bankruptcy?

If you are currently a renter, filing for bankruptcy won’t make you lose your lease. It does give you the chance to abandon your lease, which you may want to do for financial reasons, or due to other reasons like loud neighbors or crime in the area. But you may like your current apartment, and your rent may not be the cause of your financial issues. If so, make sure you let your attorney know you intend to continue with your residential lease and to exclude your landlord from your creditor mailing matrix. This prevents your landlord from being notified of your bankruptcy filing, although bankruptcy filings are a matter of public record. You should notify your attorney of any security deposit you paid so that an exemption can be applied to protect it. When these steps are followed, you can continue renting as usual despite filing for bankruptcy protection. 

You may also be concerned about your ability to enter new residential leases after bankruptcy. If you’re researching the bankruptcy process, there’s a chance you already feel nervous when submitting applications for apartments and anything else that requires a credit check. Bankruptcy might hurt your credit shortly after filing, but it shouldn’t prevent you from renting an apartment. If anything, a recent bankruptcy filing shows that you will be unable to clear any unpaid rent through bankruptcy for a certain number of years. You can have your attorney write you a letter explaining the situation if you want another level of security in this situation. Your bankruptcy attorney may also be familiar with apartment complexes in your area that work with post-bankruptcy debtors. 

Can I Buy a House After Bankruptcy?

There are more rules around buying a house after bankruptcy than renting an apartment. Which rules apply depends on the type of bankruptcy the debtor used to clear their debts, and the type of loan they wish to use to buy a home. In some instances, the debtor can request that the court reduce their waiting period, but this will only be granted if they had to file for bankruptcy due to circumstances outside of their control- think a natural disaster or a long and costly medical battle versus poor budgeting and overspending on credit cards. 

The waiting period to buy a home after bankruptcy might not affect you, as many debtors don’t have home-buying plans on their horizon. But if you do have dreams of owning your own home, you should be aware of how long bankruptcy can prevent you from making them a reality. In chapter 13 bankruptcy, the waiting period begins when the debtor starts making timely payments on their payment plan. If it is a financially sound decision, the trustee may approve a home purchase during an active bankruptcy case after the waiting period has expired. Chapter 7 debtors’ waiting periods begin after their cases have been discharged, which generally occurs within 4 to 6 months from filing. A debtor can’t meet the waiting requirement while their chapter 7 case is active, nor would the trustee allow a home purchase to proceed. 

After a chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge, a debtor must wait two years to qualify for an FHA or VA loan, and 3 years to qualify for a USDA home loan. The waiting period for a conventional home mortgage after chapter 7 bankruptcy is 4 years. For chapter 13 debtors, the waiting period is only one year of on-time payments for FHA, VA, and USDA loans, or during the case. It will take a bit longer to qualify for a conventional home mortgage after chapter 13 bankruptcy- 2 years from discharge (which is after 3 or 5 years of payments) or 4 years from dismissal. 

Can I Open a Credit Card after Bankruptcy?

Credit cards could be a factor that contributed to you filing for bankruptcy, but they are also a useful tool for gaining rewards and building credit with everyday spending. But a credit card company is not going to continue extending a line of credit to a debtor in an active bankruptcy case. Bankruptcy debtors lose access to all of their credit cards upon filing their bankruptcy petitions. They can’t open new ones until their cases are completed, which takes several months for chapter 7 bankruptcy debtors, and 3 or 5 years for chapter 13 bankruptcy debtors. But credit card companies aren’t as reluctant to extend offers to recent bankruptcy debtors as landlords and home mortgage companies. They keep an eye out for recent case discharges so they can send mailers to those debtors. Just make sure you review these offers carefully, or you could end up in circumstances like those that led you to bankruptcy in the first place. 

Will I Have to Disclose My Bankruptcy in Employment Background Checks?

If you’ve never been involved in a legal matter, you might not pay too much attention to background check questions in job applications. So, is a bankruptcy filing relevant in a background check for an employment opportunity? It depends. A person’s financial situation isn’t relevant in most lines of work. But in others, employers and clients could have good cause for concern if someone who has filed for bankruptcy is hired. For example, a debtor who recently had their debts cleared in chapter 7 bankruptcy may have a hard time finding a job as a financial advisor. If you are given a chance to explain the bankruptcy filing in your history, you should frame it as a financially sound decision and emphasize factors outside of your control that led to the bankruptcy filing. 

Prepare for Debt Relief in the Present and the Future with Our Zero Down Bankruptcy Team in Las Vegas

You should prepare yourself for life after discharge as much as you do to file your bankruptcy petition. Otherwise, bankruptcy could prevent you from moving forward with your life plans for a significant amount of time. But that shouldn’t keep you from taking advantage of the immense protections offered by the automatic stay, and how much easier your life will be after burdensome debts are erased. Our Las Vegas bankruptcy team makes filing easy with convenient appointments by phone and flexible payment plan options that will work within your budget. Get started with your free phone consultation today at 702-370-0155 for more.