Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts
homestead protection
my husband and i have a house. we have a 1st mtg and a heloc, both have homestead protection. if we were in a lawsuit, could our house be taken away? my husband says no because it is our primary residence and we have 2 mtgs to pay and no where to go.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: homestead protection
A properly filed homestead protects up to $300,000 of your equity in the house. It does not apply to the first mortgage and heloc. If you fail to pay these, the bank can and will foreclose. For example, if the house is worth 400,000 and you have 200,000 first mortgage and 100,000 second mortgage then you have 100,000 equity in the home. The homestead would protect this equity from being attached by a judgment creditor. For more info http://www.salemdeeds.com/html/homestead.html. If you equity exceeds the homestead then a judgment creditor could attach the property and sell to satisfy a judgment.
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