How long will bankruptcy stay on my credit and will I get credit again?

And even if I don’t ever want to see a credit card again, can I buy a house in a couple of years.

The short answer is that a bankruptcy filing will stay on your credit report for 7 to 10 years.

BUT you more than likely get credit card offers right away.

A recent law school law review article stated that on average after you receive your bankruptcy discharge (no later than when your case is closed), you will receive an average of 14 credit card applications per month for the next 12 months. Generally, the offers are sent from the same lenders who claim you will not get credit if you file bankruptcy.

AND  there are home lenders and car dealers that will put you into a nice new home or car right away at reasonable interest rates.

How is this possible?

It is all because of the way credit works in this country.

Before 1999, when you wanted credit, you went to the bank or lender and fill out an application, a credit report was done and the lender decided whether or not to lend you its money.

Everything changed with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act in 1999. The Glass-Steagall Act had been passed into law after the great depression to keep separate investment banking which issued securities and commercial banks which accepted deposits.

Today, with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, banks sell their loans and your credit card purchases to debt buyers who then sell them to debt aggregators who bundle them into bonds, cut them up into smaller bonds and sell them on Wall Street. The bond funds are called collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and mortgage-backed securities (MBSs).

In essence, when you apply for a credit card, loan, home loan, etc., the lender gives you credit on paper and then makes its profit from selling off your promise to repay the purchase or the loan.

The lenders who give you new credit after bankruptcy have nothing to lose and everything to gain by giving you the new credit.  The lenders make their profit in selling off your promise to repay the credit card purchase, car loan or mortgage to the debt buyers on Wall Street.