Oregon Reaffirmation Coversheet

Reaffirming Helps Rebuild Your Credit So timely payments won't help you establish a good credit history after bankruptcy. If you reaffirm the loan, your lender will continue reporting payments.

Reaffirmation agreements are strictly voluntary. A debtor is not required to reaffirm any of his or her debts. If a debtor signs a reaffirmation agreement, the debtor agrees to pay a debt that otherwise might be discharged in his or her bankruptcy case.

If you don't sign a reaffirmation agreement, the lender can repossess your car after your case closes and the automatic stay lifts. Some car lenders are known to repossess the car immediately, even if you are current on payments.

Reaffirmation is voluntary Surrender may be the best thing if the car is simply too expensive or isn't reliable. You can choose to keep the car and continue paying without reaffirming. You take your chances that the lender will repossess the car, but you also keep the benefits of the bankruptcy discharge.

By contrast, a reaffirmation agreement is a new contract. It's often on the same terms as the prior contract, but you can try to negotiate a new payment amount, interest rate, or some other provision.

But you have a very limited time to cancel the reaffirmation agreement. The deadline to cancel a reaffirmation agreement is the later of these two dates: 60 days after the date the agreement is filed with the Court; or 2022 the date the Bankruptcy Court issues a discharge in your case.