First, I encourage your friend to call his bankruptcy lawyer regarding this issue. The issue here may or may not be related to the bankruptcy filing. There is an organization called Chex Systems. Chex Systems is much like credit reporting agencies, but instead of reporting on credit card and loan accounts they report on bank accounts. If you have a bank account that is in the negative for some reason (such as over drawing the account) your bank will report this information to Check Systems. When you go to open a new account somewhere else the new bank will get a copy of the Chex Systems report and if you have a negative account somewhere else the new bank will not open an account for you until the old account is cleared up.
 
Now, if the account with the negative balance occurred after the bankruptcy was filed then the issue simply has nothing to do with the prior bankruptcy. If however, the negative bank account was before the bankruptcy then there are a few things that should be looked at. (1) Was the bank listed as a creditor in the bankruptcy? (2) Did anyone tell Chex Systems about the bankruptcy? If the debt was pre-petition (before the filing of bankruptcy) and properly listed in the case, then there is a simple fix. Get a copy of the Notice of Bankruptcy and send it with a cover letter to Chex Systems. Bankruptcy should not prevent you from opening a bank account.
 
Have your friend call his lawyer. If your friend was my client I would be happy to help him figure this out, and I would not likely charge him for it. Good luck.
 
Attorney Robert Kovacs