Bankruptcy laws have become more tougher than before since the new law in 2005. Filing bankrupcy is not as easy as just signing docs and filing it in court, today court makes you go through bankrupcy counseling sessions, payment plans and other stuffs. Today, it costs more than $1500 to file bankrupcy itself and it can stay in your credit record for more than 10 years and to answer your question, yes you can't buy house or car in future . Credit card companies can get court order to garnish your future income depending on your case.