Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Texas

Re: Can I rent my house to someone after filing Chapter 13?

Short answer -- you can rent the house but the rental income will probably mean that your bankruptcy plan payments will increase.

Basically, you are presenting a plan or formula for reorganizing your finances by means of a Ch. 13 proceeding. Your plan payments that you make each month are suppose to be equal to your "disposable income". Disposable income is essentially the difference between your reasonable and necessary expenses (Schedule J) and your net income per month (Schedule I). It sounds like your circumstances have changed since you filed your Ch. 13 case. If you rent the house you will have to disclose this to the Ch. 13 Trustee. You will also have to file new Schedules I and J. This is because Schedule I will have to show the rent as extra monthly income to you. Also Schedule J will probably have to be changed to show that you now pay a different amount for a new place to live (are you going to rent an apartment?).

If by renting the house you would need to rent an apartment, then the real question is how much money are you actually saving by this. Also, it is important for you to realize that even if you are saving money by renting your house, the extra money (the difference between Schedule J & Schedule I) goes right back into the bankruptcy in the form of a higher Ch. 13 plan payment.