Using the bankruptcy simply to force a settlement from one creditor may not have been the wisest move. That bankruptcy filing stays on your credit report for up to 10 years. The bankruptcy law does not state, contrary to popular belief, time limits on when you may file a bankruptcy petition. Instead, it sets limits on when you may obtain a discharge. If you obtained a discharge in one bankruptcy then you cannot get a discharge in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy again unless the petition for the second bankruptcy is filed at last 8 years after the prior discharge was granted (6 years if the discharge was from a Chapter 12 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy). As you didn’t get a discharge you could file again and still get a discharge without waiting that time period. Even if you had obtained a discharge, you could still file bankruptcy again before the 6 or 8 years is up but you just wouldn’t get a discharge.