Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: homestead

It is a form of legal protection available to homeowners, to protect the first $300,000 of the home's value from being attached or seized to satisfy debts to creditors unrelated to the real estate itself. As such, the homestead exemption does not protect the asset from being foreclosed upon by a mortgage lender, who has a direct security interest in the home securing the mortgage loan. those involving the home itself.

A homeowner's home equity above and beyond the first $300,000 in value is unprotected by the homestead and is, theoretically, reachable by creditors to satisfy amounts due to them.

You can check the records for your home in the Registry of Deeds in the county where the land lies to see if the homestead has been filed and applies and protects your house. If not, it is an excellent idea to file one; I believe its only a very simple form and a $10 filing fee to obtain home equity up to $300,000 from being used to satisfy debts other than