Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Massachusetts

Re: Chapter 7 or 13

In any form of bankruptcy you can probably keep your home if you are current on the mortgage and stay current AND you have a homestead declaration. The homestead declaration is necessary to protect any value in the property above what you owe on the mortgage. A homestead declaration must be recorded at the Registry of Deeds to be effective. If you are behind on the mortgage but can make the regular payments and an extra payment each month to catch up, you can use chapter 13 to keep your home. Call me if you have any other questions. 617-367-4260. David Baker

Re: Chapter 7 or 13

By and large, if you can make your mortgage payments and there is no equity in your house beyond the applicable exemption, you can keep your home. In Massachusetts, you can elect to take either the federal exemptions or the state exemptions. The Massachusetts homestead exemption allows a homeowner to exempt $500,000.00 in equity in their primary residence. Assuming the equity in your house is $500,000.00 or less, the house would be exempt. Typically, a mortgage company or bank in a Chapter 7 will require you to reaffirm the mortgage. What this means is that the debt survives your discharge. If you are in arrears on the mortgage payments, this could be problematical because the mortgage company/bank will generally require the mortgage to be brought current. If you are unable to bring the mortgage current, you may want to consider a Chapter 13 where you will repay the mortgage arrears over 36-60 months. I would be happy to discuss this with you further at your convenience. Barry