Can You Lose Personal Property if You File for Bankruptcy?

  • Mortgage After Bankruptcy

Can You Lose Personal Property if You File for Bankruptcy?

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If you are in financial stress, constantly being threatened by creditors and cannot deal with the piling bills, then bankruptcy might be the best option to get rid of your debts, say Los Angeles based bankruptcy law firm Recovery Law Group lawyers. Bankruptcy offers a great way to start your life afresh. One of the most common questions that bankruptcy lawyers face is whether filing for bankruptcy will cause people to lose their personal property?

When you file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, you can protect several assets. Bankruptcy laws exempt personal property to a specified dollar amount which varies from state to state. Generally, you can keep the personal property up to $1000, if you file individually. The amount is $2000 for joint filing. The amount increases to an additional $4000 if you don’t opt for homestead exemption. This can be possible if you either surrender the property or the home will be foreclosed as you are behind on mortgage payments.

Usually, the exemptions are generous, and you can save almost all your personal property. If however, you have accumulated more property than can be exempted, another factor comes into play; the cost of collecting and selling the assets at an auction. If after auctioning the property and taking in the trustee’s fees, there isn’t much money to pay the creditors, the bankruptcy trustee might not sell the non-exempt assets.

If the non-exempt property is large in number, filing under chapter 13 is a better option. For more options regarding bankruptcy chapters and exemptions, you can call at 888-297-6023 to speak with experienced bankruptcy lawyers.


    2023-04-06T08:32:57+00:00