Who Will Find Out I Have Filed For Bankruptcy?

It’s not very often a bankruptcy is advertised in the newspaper — in fact, only about five percent of bankruptcies filed are ever listed in the paper. So, who does find out when you file for bankruptcy?

1. People you tell
2. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
3. Your creditors
4. The credit bureaus
5. The court in your province or territory
6. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy

The trustee doesn’t inform your employer, nor do we inform your bank if you don’t owe the bank any money.

A common question I’m asked is, “does the trustee have to tell every creditor you filed for bankruptcy?” Yes, we have to inform every creditor, including your secured creditors — meaning, if you have a car loan or a mortgage with a bank or a lender then they will be notified of your bankruptcy, even if you are up-to-date with your payments.

However, it doesn’t mean you can’t keep your car or house. In fact, if you keep making your payments and don’t fall behind then the creditor cannot stop taking your payments.

Despite this, anyone can conduct a bankruptcy name search on the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy website. It currently costs $8.00 for a simple search. You probably didn’t know you could to this search and most likely, no one you know knows this fact either.

As you can see, it’s not easy for someone to find out if you filed for bankruptcy.

Finally, even if someone did find out you went bankrupt you can take pride knowing you didn’t hide from your debt problem and you dealt with it in a legal, upstanding manner. And if you do tell some friends or family that you filed for bankruptcy, you’ll be surprised that others often will then tell you they have also filed — you just never found out before.