Will My Employer or Landlord Find Out If I File Bankruptcy?

Usually not, unless they are involved in the case. The court does not notify your employer or landlord just because you filed. Your employer learns of it if it garnishes your wages or is paid plan payments, and your landlord is notified if you owe rent or list your lease, since bankruptcy filings are public records.

Who Actually Gets Notice of Your Bankruptcy

Filing for bankruptcy is not announced to the world. When you file, you give the court a list of everyone who has to be notified: under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1007(a)(1), that list includes each entity on your schedules of secured and unsecured creditors (Schedules D and E/F), your unexpired leases and contracts (Schedule G), and your co-debtors (Schedule H). The court sends notice of the case to the people on that list.

So the real question is whether your employer or landlord belongs on it. If they are not a creditor, not a party to a lease or contract you must list, and not collecting money from you through a court order, they usually receive nothing from the court. That said, a bankruptcy case is a public court record. Anyone who searches federal court records through PACER can find it, and it appears on your credit report, which matters when someone runs a background or credit check.

When Your Employer Will Find Out

Filing does not by itself put your employer on notice. Your employer will usually learn about the case in a few specific situations:

• Your wages are being garnished. The automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 stops most garnishments, and your employer’s payroll department has to be told so the withholding ends. See our page on whether bankruptcy can stop wage garnishment.
• You owe your employer money. A payroll advance or a loan from the company makes your employer a creditor, and every creditor must be listed.
• Your Chapter 13 plan is paid through payroll. After a plan is confirmed, the court may order any entity that pays you income to send all or part of it to the trustee (11 U.S.C. § 1325(c)). A wage order like that goes to your employer.
• A background or credit check. An employer generally needs your written permission before pulling a consumer report for employment purposes (15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)). If you give it, a bankruptcy on your report can show up.

Can Your Employer Fire You for Filing Bankruptcy?

No. Federal law protects your current job. Under 11 U.S.C. § 525(b), a private employer may not fire you, or discriminate against you with respect to employment, solely because you are or have been a debtor in bankruptcy, were insolvent before your discharge, or did not pay a debt that was discharged. Government employers face a similar rule under § 525(a).

Job applicants have less protection. In Myers v. TooJay’s Management Corp., 640 F.3d 1278 (11th Cir. 2011), the federal appeals court that covers Florida held that § 525(b) does not stop a private employer from refusing to hire someone because of a bankruptcy filing, because the statute bars firing and discrimination against employees but does not mention denying employment. Some positions, especially jobs that handle money, may also involve a credit review. The Fair Credit Reporting Act lets a bankruptcy be reported for up to 10 years from the order for relief, and that limit does not apply to reports used for a job paying $75,000 a year or more (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(1), (b)(3)).

When Your Landlord Will Find Out

A residential lease is an unexpired lease, so it belongs on Schedule G even if you are fully current on rent. That means your landlord is ordinarily on the court’s mailing list and may receive notice of the case. If you owe back rent, the landlord is also a creditor, and the unpaid rent is listed with your other debts.

Filing does not end your lease. If you are current and want to stay, the most important thing is to keep paying rent on time after you file. A future landlord may also see the bankruptcy on a tenant screening or credit report, since those reports can include bankruptcy cases for up to 10 years. Many landlords focus on rental history and current income, and a discharge that wipes out old debts can leave more room in your budget for rent.

Can Bankruptcy Stop an Eviction?

Sometimes, but the protection is narrower than many people expect. The automatic stay generally pauses an eviction that has not yet reached judgment. If your landlord already obtained a judgment for possession before you filed, the stay generally does not stop the eviction (11 U.S.C. § 362(b)(22)). A narrow exception applies only if you file a sworn certification that the law would let you cure the entire default and deposit with the clerk the rent that comes due during the 30 days after filing, and then cure the full default within those 30 days (§ 362(l)). Evictions based on endangering the property or illegal drug use are treated separately under § 362(b)(23).

Because the timing is so tight, anyone facing an eviction should talk to a bankruptcy attorney before the judgment is entered, not after.

Bankruptcy Privacy in Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade bankruptcy cases are filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida, and like every federal court case they are public records. The court does not publish a list of filers in the newspaper or send notices to your neighbors, your employer, or your landlord unless they are part of your case.

If you are worried about how your job or your apartment fits into a filing, bring your recent pay stubs, any garnishment papers, your lease, and any eviction notice to your consultation. Arturo R. Alfonso P.A. can review who will be listed in your case in English or Spanish and explain what each of them will receive before anything is filed.

Related Questions

• Can bankruptcy stop wage garnishment?
• How long does bankruptcy stay on your credit report?
• What is the automatic stay?
• Can filing bankruptcy stop creditor calls and lawsuits?
• How does a Chapter 13 repayment plan work?
• Bankruptcy Law in Miami