Can I Keep My Credit Cards After Filing Bankruptcy?

People often contact us asking, “Can I keep my credit cards after filing bankruptcy?” Many people that are intending to file bankruptcy express their understandable desire to hold on to a line of credit they may have and indicate their hope to simply not include a credit card in their bankruptcy.
This, however, is not acceptable. When you file bankruptcy you are obligated to list all of your creditors. You can not conclude that because you only owe a small amount on one of your credit cards that you simply won’t list it in order to maintain that line of credit.
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All creditors, whether you owe a given creditor a lot or a little must be included in the filings to the court.
On the other hand, if a debtor filing bankruptcy holds a credit card with a zero balance then the bank that issued the credit card is not listed as a creditor. If you don’t owe on a card then there is no need to list it.
However, even though the bank that isn’t owed money by person filing isn’t listed in the filings for the bankruptcy the bank will most likely discover on their own that the person filed bankruptcy. At that point the bank will likely cancel the line of credit.
When a credit card company is listed in a bankruptcy as a creditor the company may try to get the debtor to reaffirm their promise to pay the company despite the fact that the bankruptcy may serve to completely discharge the debt. Some institutions may offer to keep a line of credit open for the debtor if the debtor reaffirms the debt. Care by the debtor is in order. Very often the creditor will seek to have the debtor reaffirm their debt without offering any incentive at all to the debtor. Such a reaffirmation will be enforceable so the debtor would be well advised to discuss the offer with their own attorney.

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