Legal Question in Bankruptcy in New York

Re: bankruptcy and my home

The short answewr is NO - you will not be able to keep the home. If you are filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy in New York, only up to $10,000 in equity in the home is exempt from creditors. The rest of the value of the home can be used by the bankruptcy trustee to pay off your debts to your creditors. The trustee can take the home, sell it, evict you and your parents and give you what is left over after paying off your debts plus the $10,000. So, in your case I would not recommend bankruptcy - unless you file a Chapter 13 where you pay off your creditors over the next 3-5 years.

Re: bankruptcy and my home

It is possible that you can file under CH7 for a complete discharge. However, this is, unfortunately, a complicated question.

I will do my best to help you with the problem, but we are working the edges of Title 11 with this one.

Your ownership of the home is not complete. The right to actually 'possess' the home and to use it, rent it, or live in it is owned by your parents.

Now, this is the complicated part, if your parents have the right to re-acquire the 'title' to the home without your permission, then your ownership is 'inchoate'. Inchoate means that your ownership has not fully 'ripened'. In normal person language, not everything that needs to happen before you are the owner has happened.

So the answer is: get a copy of the new deed or certificate of title and make an appointment with a lawyer to interpret it for you. There is a chance you will be able to file under CH7 for a complete discharge.

Good luck.

You are welcome to a consultation for no fee at my offices at 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY (646) 591-5786