Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Washington

Re: Question about personal bankruptcy

Your question deals with more than just bankrutpcy, you also have real property issues. First, if you were to voluntarily give the house to the bank, you would be submitting to a voluntary foreclosure which may leave you owing money to the bank, if the bank can't sell the house for the full value of the mortgage. You might be better off trying to sell it yourself. If you claim bankruptcy, owing money on both your home and car, the most likely thing that would happen is that the bankruptcy court would liquidate both assets. However, the bankruptcy code allows for $40,000.00 homestead exculsion which may allow you to keep your home. My advise is to try and hang on as long as possible without claiming bankruptcy because the result would still be the same. If you don't pay your mortgage the bank would still foreclose on the property, and if you don't make car payments the financing company would likely reposes the vehicle. You could always file bankruptcy later. Claim bankruptcy should be an act of last resort, it shouldn't be used as a preventive measure as you can only claim bankruptcy every 7 years.