I get this question a lot. My answer is that most people in your day to day life won’t know that you filed for bankruptcy unless you tell them.
The only people that get notice of your bankruptcy filing are your creditors. If you don’t owe anybody money – they won’t get notice of your filing. And, most creditors are nationally based banks like Citicorp, Bank of America and HSBC. These big companies aren’t going to broadcast your situation – they don’t even send a representative to your 341 hearing.
When I get this question, I always ask clients if they have ever heard of PACER. Every one says no. PACER is the federal website where your bankruptcy filing will be listed – but nobody – other than your lawyer – knows about it.