11 U.S.C. § 1328(f) bars Chapter 13 discharge if the debtor received a discharge in an earlier case within specified lookback periods. This research project tracks how the rule operates across districts, the empirical patterns in successive-filing eligibility decisions, and the consequences for debtors caught by the lookback.
Section 1328(f) provides that the court shall not grant a discharge of all debts under § 1328 if the debtor has received a discharge:
The rule is a categorical bar; it does not turn on the debtor's good faith, hardship, or any other discretionary factor. If the lookback applies, discharge is unavailable.
Many debtors file successive Chapter 13 cases without realizing the lookback applies. By the time the court reaches discharge, the debtor has paid 3-5 years of plan payments and learns at the discharge stage that no discharge will issue. The plan completion still confers some benefits (the automatic stay protected payments, secured debts may have been cured, etc.) but the unsecured debt remaining is not eliminated.
Empirical questions this research addresses:
The § 1328(f) bar interacts with the automatic-stay limits under § 362(c)(3)/(4) for repeat filers (the stay terminates earlier or doesn't apply at all when there's a recent prior dismissal). See the automatic-stay successive-filings reference.
The Rules Committee has begun work on a procedural complement: 26-BK-3, accepted March 2026 by the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules, addresses Rule 4004 / 1328(f) screening at the petition stage. Citation in the committee record (Tab 4C, p. 125, fn. 4) references this empirical research.