If you are a co-signer, co-maker or guarantor for a loan with your children, friends, spouse or your business,  you are liable to pay the debt if the primary debtor does not pay.   Also, your credit will likely be damaged if the primary debtor does not pay because the creditor will usually report the delinquency to the credit bureau in the primary debtor’s name as well as yours.   If the primary debtor  cannot pay and files for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 7,  collection activity will stop for the primary debtor, but not for the co-signer.   In other words, creditors can go around the bankruptcy proceedings and come after the co-signer personally.   If either the co-signer or the primary debtor files a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition,  the automatic stay of the bankruptcy court will protect both the debtor and the co-signer from further activity by the creditors.  Under Chapter 7, however, the co-signer or guarantor does not  get the protection of the automatic stay and can be pursued by the creditor immediately.  For the co-signer as well as the primary debtor, the filing of any kind of bankruptcy will be reported to the credit bureaus for a period up to ten years.