Q. Will My Friends, Neighbors, Employer or Others Find Out I Filled Bankruptcy ?

A.  Although petitions filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court are public records, the answer to that question is almost certainly NO, unless your are a celebrity or a mega corporation.

We are frequently asked this question by those who consult us because they are experiencing serious debt problems and are considering filing a bankruptcy petition.  Understandably they  do no want their debt problems to affect their personal or business relationships.  However, unless a bankruptcy petition is filed by an important business entity or a well-known person,  it is very, very doubtful that the filing of a bankruptcy petition will attract any attention, especially given the flood of bankruptcy petitions filed because of the violent economic contraction and persistently high unemployment rate

For the 12 month period ending May 31 2010, a total of 38,000 736 petitions were filed in the the United States Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey. The overwhelming majority of these were consumer bankruptcies filed to either discharge debt under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. See Below:

12 Month Period Ending May 31, 2010
New Jersey Chapter Consumer Bankruptcies 28734
New Jersey Chapter 13 Consumer Bankruptcies 8412

Source: http://www.njb.uscourts.gov/stats/data/2010_05_year.pdf

Celebrity bankruptcies of well-known sports figures and entertainers are frequently highly publicized as are the bankruptcies of large corporations. Recent example are the Bankruptcy Petition filed by General Motors. the one of the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” Among other celebrity bankruptcies are those of Kim Basinger, Burt Reynolds,
Mike Tyson, Debbie Reynolds, and the late Michael Jackson.
Perhaps the most frequently publicized bankruptcies have been those of the New Jersey Casinos associated with Donald Trump. Trump is listed as a party in the Bankruptcy five Bankruptcy Case filed between 1989 and 2009, the last of which is still pending.

89-10119-RG Resorts International, Inc. filed 11/12/89
90-01005-RG Resorts International, Inc. et al v. Lowenschuss et al
04-46898-JHW THCR/LP Corporation filed 11/21/04 closed 03/17/09
09-02120-JHW Coastal Marina, LLC et al v. Trump Marina Associates, LLC et
09-13654-JHW TCI 2 Holdings, LLC

The Bankruptcy filings do not seem to have affected either Mr. Trump’s reputation for his high self-esteem.

Tags: Frequently Asked Question About Filing Bankruptcy

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