As a general rule, when a court dismisses a Chapter 13 bankruptcy , the debtor may file another Chapter 13 bankruptcy, as soon as he can get the paperwork together. This is sometimes done intentionally, when the initial bankruptcy is running into problems that can be cured in a new filings. One point that a person taking this strategy must keep in mind though, is that he will have to file a motion within 30 days to retain the automatic stay in the second bankruptcy.
One exception the Bankruptcy code makes to this rule bars a debtor from filing a new Chapter 13 bankruptcy for 180 days after he voluntarily dismisses a prior petition after a creditor has filed a motion to lft the automatic stay. The situation Congress is attempting to prevent is a debtor putting off the legal repossession of property by using serial bankruptcy filings. For example a mortgage company might file a motion to lift the automatic stay to allow it to proceed with a legitimate foreclosure sale of the debtor’s home. Without this exception the debtor would merely have to wait until the day before the foreclosure sale, and then voluntarily dismiss his petition and immediately file a new one.
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