Palatine Bankruptcy Attorney On Keeping Your Home Through Chapter 7

A Palatine bankruptcy attorney can assist you in keeping your home while getting out of debt through bankruptcy.  If you are concerned about losing your house, you must find out what the value of the house is.  There are many ways to determine the value of the house including getting a comparative market analysis from a licensed realtor in your local area.  A more simple way to get a general idea of the value of your house is to utilize websites such as Zillow Z-i-l-l-o-w.com.  Zillow.com will give you an estimate as to what your property is worth as well as a bird’s eye view of the neighboring houses. 

In the state of Illinois, you are allowed a $15,000 exemption in real estate.  That means you can have up to $15,000 of equity per person free and clear from the trustees reach.  If you feel that you might have significant equity above and beyond that amount, then you want to talk to your attorney about possibly doing a Chapter 13.  Chapter 13 would provide for you to keep all of the equity in your property while you repay all or a portion of your debts over time. 

Real estate is the most common big-ticket asset that you will see in a Chapter 7 case.  In years past, when the market was increasing, people would be more subject to losing their home based on improper valuations.  Today, with the market kind of in a tailspin, most trustees are not looking to even sell real estate unless there is significant equity in that property.  Most trustees are satisfied if there is not significant equity with making a finding of no assets and closing the case and moving on to the next case.  

However, if you file a bankruptcy case with significant equity, either in real estate or other assets, then you run the risk that that trustee might seek to administer that asset.  If I have a client where equity or assets are a close call, I would advise my client and if they wish to proceed, I would have them sign an Asset Acknowledgment form.  This form basically states that the client is aware that there might be an asset that the trustee can take but the client is willing to take the risk that the trustee will not administer the asset or if the trustee does wish to administer the asset, the client realizes that he will have a buyout possibility whereby the trustee will look to take a dollar amount in exchange for the debtor keeping the interest in the property.  The trustee will then take that dollar amount and administer it for the benefit of creditors pursuant to a hierarchy, pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code and the bankruptcy laws.