Today I will finish my discussion of bankruptcy discharge by answering some final questions:

·         Can you receive a discharge if you have a history of a prior discharge?

If you are filing bankruptcy under Chapter 7 and have received a discharge under Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 within the past eight years the court will deny your present discharge. The court will also deny a Chapter 7 discharge if you have received a Chapter 12 or Chapter 13 discharge within the past six years, unless you paid in full all of your “allowed unsecured” claims from the prior case, or you paid a total of at least seventy percent of the “allowed unsecured” claims and your plan was proposed in good faith and the payments made represented your best effort. You are not eligible for a Chapter 13 discharge if you received an earlier Chapter 7, 11, or 12 discharge within four years or in a Chapter 13 case within two years.

·         Can a discharge be revoked?

A discharge may be revoked by the court under certain circumstance. For example, a creditor, trustee, or U.S. trustee may request that your Chapter 7 discharge be revoked if: there are allegations that your have obtained the discharge fraudulently; you failed to disclose information about property you were about to acquire; you supplied misinformation regarding an audit of your case.  Usually, a request for the discharge to be revoked must occur within a year of the discharge. The court will assess whether your discharge is revocable. Under Chapter 11, Chapter 12, and Chapter 13 cases if the discharge is obtained through fraud the court can revoke the order of discharge.

·         What can you do if a creditor attempts to collect on a discharged debt?

You can file a motion to the court reporting the creditor’s action and request the case be reopened to address the matter. The bankruptcy will usually do so to be sure the discharge is not violated. The discharge is a permanent statutory injunction that prohibits creditors from taking any action against you with intent to collect a discharged debt. The creditor may be charged with civil contempt by the court for violating the discharge and fined.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any further questions. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado personal bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, Colorado Bankruptcy Help Email, personal bankruptcy free-consultation form.