Does Bankruptcy stay on your record forever?

[Rw1016]

Hi All!

l'd really appreciate some advice here. I know bankruptcies automatically fall off credit reports after a certain number of years, and of course, it's dependent on the type of BK filed.

My question is, however, aside from credit reports, do they still show up in other parts of an employment background check?

My wife and I filed a Chapter 13 a little over 5 years ago that was dismissed. I understand that 2 of the 3 CRA's drop the filings after 7 years and TU takes it off after 10 years (since it was dismissed). When an employer runs an employment background check after 10 years, for example, will the public records search of a background check still show the filing?

I understand the filing will always be available in PACER, but I feel a bit disheartened to think this filing will follow me for the rest of my life (in terms of employment). My wife and I have worked very hard in the last 5 years in terms of our finances, budget, making on time payments and establishing a good record/mix of credit since the filing, and we're excited for 2 of the CRA's to remove these filings and see our scores increase in a couple of years. Now I'm sitting here wondering if this will be an employment issue going forward for the rest of our lives. 

Any advice would be so very much appreciated, thank you!

[FlaDude]

I'm not sure about Pacer or similar sites but court records more or less last forever. In my county court website, I can search all court cases back to 1980, and could go in person to search paper/microfilm records older than that. As you said, bankruptcy will eventually drop off your credit report and won't affect ability to get credit, but background checks or even just nosy neighbors can go back to the beginning of time, more or less.

[Horseshoez]

@Rw1016, I've been interviewing for a position with Google most of the spring, and finally on the fourth day of summer, they made me an offer.  I told you that to tell you this, their background check process is quite extensive, even more detailed than when I went to work for a large financial institution about 12 years ago.  I filed for a Chapter 13 in early 2015; it was discharged in early 2020 and fell off my reports in early 2022; the information the company doing the background check asked something along the lines of, "Do you have a bankruptcy on your credit report?"  To which I answered, "No".

When I got the final report two days ago, this is what it said regarding my credit history:

In the "Summary" section it says:

Green-Flag - SS Trace/Credit - Completed - Meets Company Standards

In the "Details" section it says:

----------------- SS Trace/Credit -----------------

SSN Trace                                       Complete - Data Found

Time Completed: Jun 24, 2025 11:07 AM PDT

Comments: Jun 24, 2025 11:07 AM PDT - Experian FileOne Agent - Contents of SSN match the applicant on sufficient identifiers to use the result.

Long story short, it doesn't look like even an extensive background check will bother digging so deep as to look for public court filings for bankruptcies.  Now, education, criminal, employment, and various "offender" registries, they are a different matter; they are all heavily scrutinized, and not just for places where I've lived; they did all of those checks in the localities where my corporate management was registered, places where I've either visited rarely, or never once visited before, during, or since my employment with any given entity.

I have no idea how much such an extensive background check might cost, but in many places in my 12 page "Final Report", there was a notation which said, "Surcharge: Per [background_company]'s database [verification topic is unavailable].  Submitted Request.  Request ID: Transaction ID: 999999999.  Surcharge applies."