One of the many rewarding perks we get at Steidl and Steinberg when we meet with our clients is the chance to debunk wild bankruptcy myths. One of those persistent myths is that when a person files for bankruptcy, they cannot buy anything for 10 years. That is totally false.
Where do these outlandish and untrue statements come from?
I want to put this one of many bankruptcy myths to rest. There are no buying restrictions whatsoever after a bankruptcy. None. Nada.
You can buy whatever you want. In fact, you may find it easier to make necessary purchases once a bankruptcy is over. Here’s an example:
Bankruptcy Brought a Better Car
One of my clients owned a car, financed, that was worth about $9,000.00. It was not in particularly good shape, but she owed over $16,000.00 on it . She thought she was going to be stuck with this costly loan once her bankruptcy was over. She was wrong.
Our client continued to pay on the loan while she was in the bankruptcy proceedings so that she still had use of her car and was able to keep it if she wanted. She was pleasantly surprised to receive offers from car dealers to have her finance a vehicle as soon as the bankruptcy was finished. She realized she could buy a car with payments that were similar to the costly loan payments for the unreliable vehicle that she was currently making.
The deal was tentative because she was not able to sign the papers until her bankruptcy was concluded. As soon as the bankruptcy was over she signed the deal, returned her old car, and with almost identical payments, drove off with a new, reliable one. She paid a high interest rate, but you should expect that and, in her case, she was already paying a high interest rate because of poor credit.
Getting your credit back is not particularly difficult, as most of our clients have some credit restored in one year, most back in two years, and all back in three.
Before you believe the things you see on the internet or hear from friends, believe what you see from us.
We put more bankruptcy myths to rest in our myth-debunking guide, Bankruptcy Myths, Debunked! You can check it out for free at resources.goodbyedebt.com.