Legal Question in Bankruptcy in District of Columbia

Re: A new car after bankrutcy

I practice bankruptcy law in DC MD and VA. I hope you are not thinking of doing this without a lawyer.

I'm assuming you are filing Chapter 7. There is no legally-required waiting period to buy a car. If you plan to sell the old car, you have to either get court approval or wait until the case is closed or the trustee otherwise abandons it. If you are going to surrender it to the lender, you can do that at any point (unless the trustee objects due to equity in the car). If you need to take out a loan to buy the new car, many lenders either won't lend or will lend only at high rates, so be sure you know what you are getting into. If you plan to pay cash, you most likely won't be able to afford much, since any cash you have at the time of filing has to be disclosed and either exempted or turned over to the trustee.

Re: A new car after bankrutcy

If you go through a straight bankruptcy (Chapter 7), there's no reason in the law not to get a new car. The problem is that your creditors might start asking a lot of questions - where did you get the money to buy a new car, when you didn't have enough to pay them?

And, indeed, that is a very reasonable question.

Why don't you keep the car you have?

If the problem is one of financing, that again is not a question of law, so much as one of the policy of the lender. Some lenders prefer debtors who have just been through bankruptcy, because they cannot file again for years.