Can you keep your credit cards after filing bankruptcy? You should know that your credit cards will be canceled by the creditor once you file bankruptcy. Even if you want to keep them and continue to pay, they will be canceled. Credit card companies are constantly checking your credit reports and the moment they see the bankruptcy they will cancel the card. This is a surprise to many people who thought that by not listing one or two cards in their bankruptcy, they could keep using them. No company is going to let you keep a credit card. They all want you to reaffirm the debt and pay it off, but they will not extend the current credit privileges, even if you agree to pay what is owed. Now after filing bankruptcy, you may get flooded with new offers for credit cards (some offers may even be from the same companies!) but they will not allow the current account to remain open.
Why? Once a debt is discharged in bankruptcy, the creditor can’t have any contact with you. No letters, no phone calls, no law suits, no efforts to collect, and no reports to the credit bureau. You can sue them if they violate these rules. So if you repay the debt, the creditor can’t and won’t report it on your credit record. They will take the money, but you won’t any recognition or credit for paying it.
It’s also important to understand that credit card companies sell their debts to other companies and debt collectors. If you decided to pay a discharged debt, who will you pay? Are you going to pay back some company or debt collector that you never owed in the first place? How is that going to help you? Better to take that money and save it for a rainy day.
After the bankruptcy you are still going to have debts and living expenses that need to be paid. If you have children, there is no end to the expenses and things they need. Wouldn’t it be better to focus on these expenses and rebuilding your personal and family wealth?