If you are currently bankrupt or have been bankrupt you could still get a loan. A number of lenders and other finance professionals, or your neighbors, friends, family and well-meaning but misinformed people would have you think that the minute you file that bankruptcy you’ll never be able to have a car or a home in your name again.

That is just not the case.  There are firms that in fact specialize in giving loans for the bankrupt and those with other bad credit issues.  Here is how to get a loan after bankruptcy. 

It may be that those who are bankrupt will need to wait until the bankruptcy case is dismissed or the creditors are paid to get a loan for a car or residential property, but that is not always the case.  Mostly it has to do with what type of bankruptcy you filed.   

If when you go bankrupt you filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy before you could get a loan you will have to wait two years.  With a Chapter 13 bankruptcy the criteria, in general, for acceptance of a loan when having been bankrupt is that the creditors have been paid.   

Since the type of bankruptcy will conclude how quickly and under what situations you could get a loan after you are bankrupt it’s essential to know the different types of bankruptcy.  Here are the basics.   

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is filed as a protection of your personal belongings and allows you to start on the road to financial recovery while paying your creditors back systematically.  If you have a loan or two or three when you file bankruptcy you could still pay them back, on a schedule that you could afford.  You don’t need to default.   

To apply for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy you’ll need to gather a list of the people and firms to whom you owe money - your creditors.  You will have to show your bankruptcy attorney a list of your assets and liabilities, and the property that will be - you hope - exempt from collection. 

You’ll have to prove your income and expenses, and a statement of what you plan to do with the debts that are secured.  Your property, which includes any that is part of a secured loan when you go bankrupt, will be turned over to a trustee. 

You, or your attorney, will meet with the creditors, your list of exempt items is discussed and you will inform the others how you will pay them back.  They will have a period of 30 days to disagree.  The creditors then have 90 days to talk with the court about you and your bills.   

The reasons that the criteria for getting a loan when you’ve been bankrupt differs between a Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 is that in a Chapter 13 you keep your vehicle, your home and your other possessions. 

It is possible that a potential lender, when considering you for a loan, could look askance at this type of bankruptcy situation.  You, unlike a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, chose give up your property to pay in full your debts. 

If the post bankrupt loan you are looking for is for a home or auto it could be that the new prospective lender will recall that in the last bankruptcy the lender who had your home as collateral did not get it back when you failed to pay.