Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and Equity Exemption rule.
February 9th, 2010 by Jarad S.Question: I am confused if I will lose my house in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy as I am not understanding the Equity Exemption rule. My house is worth $230,000. I owe $105,000 on the first & $60,000 on a HELOC. I am unemployed and my unsecured debt is $60,000. If I file bankruptcy can the mortgage holders force me into foreclosure if I am up do date with payments? I am getting conflicting advice from attorneys.
Answer: -Unfortunately we are not bankruptcy attorneys so maybe someone else can shed some light on this topic. I do know that a Chapter 7 is a wipe out and therefore you would liquidate all your assets to pay off all your creditors. An attorney is hired to help “protect” those assets, like personal belongings. The trustee or attorney who represents the court and the creditors will look at all the assets (house, car, furniture, equipment) anything of value and decide what must be liquidated to pay some of the debt that was wiped out. So depending on whether or not your home has any value, it would be in your best interest to find a good attorney or maybe even investigate different Chapters of bankruptcy’s to make sure Chapter 7 is the way to go.
