What about my home if I file for bankruptcy?.

[jimcruz]

Hello everyone!, I'm new to this site so I apologize if I'm posting a question that has already been answered. My question is simple, what would happen to my house if I file for bankruptcy?. I live in Puerto Rico.

Thanks for your time.

[LadyInTheRed]

Welcome to Bkforum!

There is no way anybody can answer your question without more information about your situation. But, in general, if you want to keep your home and can afford to keep your home, you probably can. If you have equity above your the allowable homestead exemption, then the trustee could sell your home, or the non-exempt equity. It looks like Puerto Rico has an unlimited homestead exemption: http://exemptions.diydbankruptcy.com...uertorico.aspx. Assuming that is correct, you can keep your home if you file BK. That doesn't necessarily mean that you should keep your home.

In a Chap 13, most people keep all of their assets anyway, even if they are not exempt.

Spend some time reading the stickies at the top of each forum to learn more about the bankruptcy process.

[jimcruz]

Hi and sorry for not giving more information about my situation. I own a home that was given to me as a donation from my father. There is no mortgage on the house. My concern is because I've talked to about 5 lawyers that can't tell me for sure if filling a chapter 7 or 13 would let me keep the house. They told me that there are 5 trustees here in the island and only 2 of them would let me keep the house and the other 3 maybe. I hope you can understand my indecision about all this. I don't want to lose my house.

[LadyInTheRed]

This issue is different in a Chap 13 and Chap 7. You posted in the Chap 13 forum, so I assumed you knew you would be filing a Chap 13.

In a Chap 7, the question is whether you can exempt the equity in the home. If you can, you keep the home. If you can't, the trustee will probably sell the home, pay you for any portion of the value you exempt, and distribute the rest to your creditors. You have an opportunity to buy the non exempt portion from the trustee.

In a Chap 13, if the home is not exempt, you can still keep it as long as your plan pays to unsecured creditors at least what they would receive if the home was liquidated in a Chap 13.

The answer to this question shouldn't vary by trustee. I'd go back to these attorneys and ask whether there are exemptions available to protect your home and why the answer to "can I keep my home" varies by trustee.

Could it be that none of the attorney's had enough information regarding your income and assets to answer your questions, including whether you can file a Chap 7?

I get the sense you do not have a good understanding of how the bankruptcy process works. Please do some reading, including the stickies at the top of every subforum and then ask more questions based on what you have learned. If you don't know what I mean when I talk about exemptions, try reading the exemptions forum: http://www.bkforum.com/forumdisplay.php?13-Exemptions Nolo is also a good source of information to get an overview of the process: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encycloped...kruptcy-basics