Yes, you can keep your home if you file for bankruptcy in New York. But it’s not a given. And depending on your circumstances, there are a few different ways to do it.
If you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Brooklyn NY, then you can keep your home as long as the remaining equity in your home (i.e., the amount that you have not yet paid back) does not exceed the homestead exemption for New York, which is $50,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a couple. If the remaining equity exceeds the homestead exemption, then a trustee can sell your home to pay off creditors.
If you’re in this situation, then the other option for keeping your home is to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy Brooklyn NY. Chapter 13 bankruptcy means you work with your creditors, and with the supervision of the bankruptcy court, to create a repayment plan that usually takes 3 to 5 years. The idea is that under a Chapter 13 repayment plan, you can reduce the amounts you owe to unsecured creditors (though not to your mortgage lender, who is a secured creditor). With reduced payments, ideally, you would be able to make the payments on your mortgage and keep your home.
The non-bankruptcy alternative for trying to keep your home is loan modification and its cousin foreclosure mediation. Whether you can negotiate a loan modification with your mortgage lender depends on your circumstances as well as on your mortgage lender. There is some hope that Congress will put increased pressure on banks and other mortgage lenders to encourage them to enter into loan modifications with homeowners rather than move forward with foreclosure. But waiting around for Congress to act may not be an option for you.
If you’re worried about losing your home to bankruptcy in New York, you don’t have to make this decision on your own. The best first step is to meet with a good bankruptcy attorney Brooklyn NY who has experience and whom you trust to steer you in the right direction.
Please feel free to contact me for a free initial consultation. I’ll answer all of your questions, figure out the best strategy to help you move forward. The key, as always, is preparation and planning.
