[Editor’s note: Sidney Terrell is a regular contributor of Oak View Law Group, which provides debt settlement service in more than 40 states in the US. To know more about the firm, you can check oak view review].

Whether you live in San Francisco or Berkley, Chapter 7 bankruptcy can certainly be an escape route to shed off your huge outstanding debt. In Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, a court trustee makes use of your property to pay off your creditors. After this, the remaining debts are discharged or wiped out by the bankruptcy court. Now, the question is how often you can file. Though there are some limits on filing, the federal government sets them and not the California state laws.

Time Framework
If you have recently filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you have to wait for at least 8 years to file for another. However, in Chapter 13 where you make debt payments for 3 to 5 years towards your creditor, you have to wait for six years after you completely come out from a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in order to file Chapter 7.

Eligibility Criteria
Every time you appear before the court to file Chapter 7, you need to meet some guidelines. If you are filing in California, your last six month’ average income must be below the state median for a family of your size. Half of the family members’ income can be above the median and the rest’ below. This median, however, often changes as per the state’ economic scenario. Therefore, it’s obvious that the qualifying income of 2004 won’t work today. Moreover, if you have a high income, you can still get through the “means test”, which adjusts your income according to the cost of living in your city.

Dismissal
There are 13 bankruptcy courts in California. You may find bankruptcy courts in cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno and San Francisco. These 13 courts have the authority to reject you bankruptcy petition at any time. Your district court can anytime reject your case. For instance, if you disobey court orders, or fail to present on a hearing, the court can throw out your case. If this happens, the 8 years’ gap between Chapter 7 won’t apply as you haven’t completed the bankruptcy procedure. In this case, you will have to wait just for 180 days after the rejection to file again.

Credit
If you want to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you have to go through a credit-counseling course in the last six months before you file. You have to avail the course each time you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The U.S. Department of Justice Trustee Program has a list of approved California counselors online.