A bankruptcy generally affects a person’s credit rating for 7 to 10 years. However, this depends entirely on the individual credit reporting agency. The Bankruptcy Court does not have influence on the type of information the credit bureaus report or how long the credit bureaus keep the filing in their records.  Under federal law, you may be able to periodically receive a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. Each agency's report may contain different information. To receive a free annual credit report, you can visit www.annualcreditreport.com or you can call or send a written request to:

For more information, see the Credit Reporting Information section on this website.