A bankruptcy can end in a number of ways prior to discharge; for example, a bankruptcy can be subsequently withdrawn at the request of the debtor or dismissed by the court for a variety of reasons. There are several reasons a debtor may file bankruptcy just as there are several reasons why a debtor may decide to seek withdrawal of that bankruptcy.  Because bankruptcy filings are public record those filings will eventually be picked up by the third party public information vendors which consumer reporting agencies use to collect public record information or directly by the consumer reporting agencies through the electronic PACER court reporting service.

Federal law requires that consumer reporting agencies that choose to report a bankruptcy must also report the type of bankruptcy filed (e.g. Chapter 7, Chapter 13, etc.) and, in the case of a withdrawn bankruptcy, that the bankruptcy has been withdrawn.  The current practice of the consumer reporting agencies is to report a bankruptcy, including a withdrawn or dismissed bankruptcy, on a debtor’s credit report for up to 10 years.