How Often Can You File Bankruptcy in Maryland?

In Maryland, you can file bankruptcy again as soon as you want, but receiving a second discharge requires waiting between two and eight years from the filing date of your previous case. The exact wait depends on which chapter gave you the earlier discharge and which chapter you plan to file next. If your prior case was dismissed without a discharge, different rules apply.

The Four Waiting Periods Between Discharges

Federal bankruptcy law sets four combinations, and each carries its own timeline measured from the filing date of the earlier case.

Get these wrong and the court will deny the new discharge or dismiss the case outright.

When the Clock Starts

Each waiting period runs from the date you filed the earlier case, not the date you received the discharge. This matters most for Chapter 13 filers. A Chapter 13 plan runs three to five years, so by the time your discharge comes through, much of a two-year wait may already be behind you. Someone who completed a five-year Chapter 13 plan could, in theory, file another Chapter 13 almost immediately after discharge and still be eligible for relief in the new case.

The Exception That Shortens the Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 Wait

The six-year wait for a Chapter 7 after a Chapter 13 discharge disappears in two situations. The first is when your Chapter 13 plan paid 100 percent of allowed unsecured claims. The second is when the plan paid at least 70 percent of unsecured claims, you proposed the plan in good faith, and the plan represented your best effort.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 727 Discharge If either applies, you can file Chapter 7 without waiting the full six years. Filers who completed aggressive repayment plans sometimes qualify sooner than they expect.

Filing Again After a Dismissed Case

The waiting periods above only apply when the earlier case ended in a discharge. If your prior case was dismissed without ever producing a discharge, those timelines do not bar you. A dismissal without prejudice carries no statutory wait on refiling.

One shorter bar still applies. You cannot file any new bankruptcy case for 180 days if the court dismissed your previous case because you willfully failed to follow court orders or failed to appear, or if you voluntarily dismissed your own case after a creditor had already filed a motion for relief from the automatic stay.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 109 Who May Be a Debtor This rule exists to stop people from refiling just to trigger a fresh automatic stay and stall creditors.

The Automatic Stay Shrinks or Disappears for Repeat Filers

Clearing the timing rules is not the end of the problem. The automatic stay that normally freezes collection activity the moment you file behaves very differently when you have filed before.

If you had one bankruptcy case pending within the past year that was dismissed, the automatic stay in your new case expires after 30 days unless you convince the court to extend it. You carry the burden of proving the new filing is in good faith, and the hearing must happen before those 30 days run out.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 Automatic Stay

If two or more cases were dismissed within the past year, no automatic stay goes into effect at all when you file. Wage garnishments, foreclosures, and other collection actions continue as though no bankruptcy exists. You can ask the court to impose a stay, but until a judge grants that request, you have no protection.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 Automatic Stay The court will presume bad faith if your financial situation has not materially changed since the prior dismissal, and you need clear and convincing evidence to overcome that presumption.

Chapter 20: Filing Without a Second Discharge

Some Maryland filers combine a Chapter 7 with a later Chapter 13 even though the four-year wait blocks a second discharge. The informal name is Chapter 20. You file Chapter 7 first to wipe out credit cards, medical bills, and other unsecured debts. Then you file Chapter 13 to set up a repayment plan for debts Chapter 7 could not touch, such as mortgage arrears or certain tax obligations.

A Chapter 13 without discharge eligibility still delivers real benefits. The automatic stay halts foreclosure and gives you time to catch up on a mortgage. A confirmed plan lets you stretch out secured or priority debts over three to five years at reduced monthly amounts. Some filers can also strip off underwater junior liens through the plan. The trade-off is that every dollar owed in the Chapter 13 plan must actually be paid, because no discharge will wipe out any remaining balance at the end. The strategy works best when the main problem after Chapter 7 is a manageable amount of secured debt that needs restructuring.

Don’t Skip the Education Courses

Every individual filer must complete two courses to qualify for a discharge, and this applies to repeat filings just as much as first-time cases. The pre-filing course is credit counseling, which must be finished before you file your petition. The post-filing course is debtor education, which must be completed after filing.5U.S. Courts. Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Courses Both courses must come from agencies approved by the U.S. Trustee Program, and the approved list is published on the Department of Justice website.6U.S. Department of Justice. List of Credit Counseling Agencies Approved Pursuant to 11 USC 111

Skipping the debtor education course is one of the most common mistakes repeat filers make. The consequence is severe: the court closes the case without granting a discharge, and creditors can resume collection immediately. Reopening a closed case to fix the problem costs additional fees and delays your relief by weeks or months.

How Repeat Filings Stack on Your Credit

Under federal law, a bankruptcy case can remain on your credit report for up to 10 years from the date of filing.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c Compliance Procedures In practice, the three major credit bureaus typically remove a Chapter 13 after seven years, though the statute itself allows up to 10 for any bankruptcy. A Chapter 7 generally stays the full 10.

For repeat filers, that math gets punishing. File Chapter 7 and then a Chapter 13 four years later, and both entries overlap on your report for most of a decade. Lenders, landlords, and employers who pull your credit will see both filings during that overlap. The two-year minimum between Chapter 13 discharges means a person could have an almost continuous bankruptcy presence on their report, which makes borrowing at reasonable rates difficult for a very long time.