The three credit reporting agencies all obtain bankruptcy filing information almost immediately when a case is filed. If you file a Chapter 7 case, then it will appear on your credit report for 10 years from the case filing date. If you file a Chapter 13 case, then it will appear for 7 years.

There is nothing that you need to do to remove the bankruptcy information after those time periods expire. There is also nothing that you can do to speed up the process.

How long then does it take to rebuild your credit? Usually, this will be about two years from the “discharge date”, this being the date that the Court has issued the Discharge Order, which is the Court Order officially wiping out your debts. This will come at the conclusion of your case.

It’s hard to predict exactly what your credit score will be after a bankruptcy case. A lot will depend on your individual debts and payment history. To relate a quick story however, a client of mine back in 2005 asked me to get his credit report for him two days after his Discharge Order had been granted. His credit score on that day was 651, which is not bad considering that many credit bureaus consider that 660 is good credit and that 700 is excellent.