Q: Can I be forced to sell my home?
I live in my homesteaded home and I co-signed on a home for my daughter which I have nothing to do with she lives in it with her children and has made all payments since the purchase. I am planning on filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy as I am 74 years old and make a little over 1000.00 a month on my pension and my ssi.
A: I urge you to contact a bankruptcy attorney in your area. There are a lot of factors here that need to be considered. Whether or not your home is homesteaded, that does not necessarily mean that it is completely protected if you file bankruptcy. The Chapter 7 Trustee assigned to your case will look at the value of your home, any liens such as mortgages against it, and your homestead exemption amount to determine whether there is equity (value) in the home after considering those factors. Thus it is critical to have a bankruptcy attorney analyze this very important issue. Additionally, even though you may not have an interest in your daughter's house, as a co-signer on the loan, it is a debt of yours that must be listed as a creditor in your case. This may negatively impact your daughter. Again, I urge you to contact a bankruptcy attorney that can go over all of these issues before you file a chapter 7. Depending upon the amount of debt you have, there may be other options to consider.
Peter Maurice Lively agrees with this answer
1 user found this answer helpful
A: As the previous answer suggests - you NEED to sit down with a bankruptcy attorney and discuss your situation in specific detail including how much "equity" you have in your home. I highly recommend you get proper legal advice and do not try to handle any of this on your own. You have too much at stake.
A: There are many factors that go into this answer. Contact a bankruptcy attorney for a consultation and see what your options are in filing chapter 7.
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