help needed

[thewiz4u]

Hi all, I live in Ohio and have a house with a equity loan it has litle or no equity but I want to keep it. My income is below median and have about $50,000 on credit cards. Can I file for 7 and keep the house or 13 will be the way to go? Thanks for your help.

[cj0203]

I think most people who file a 13 are trying to protect assets that are not exempt or are above median income. If you are under median and your home's equity is within exempt range and are current on your house payments, I'd think a Ch 7 would be the way to go.

Def talk to a few lawyers before you decide, but Ch 7 is best if you can do it, based on what I've read here!

Good luck!

[tay666]

Ok.
I too am in Ohio.
I haven't filed yet, but I have been researching for a while so I am pretty confident of my understanding of the general things.

First of all, do you have any equity at all in the house?
In other words, what is your house worth, and what do you owe on it?
Ohio homestead exemption is only $5000 ($10000 if filing joint)

http://www.ohiobankruptcy.com/exemptions.html

Second.
ARe you current on the payments?
You have to be current on the payments to file a CH7

Can you keep making the payments after you have files?
If you want to keep the house, you have to reaffirm the loans on the property. This includes 2nd mortguages and any other loan that the house is used as collateral for.

[thewiz4u]

ok, the house was valued at 110,000 on 2005 I own 103,000 on first and second mortgage
I'm current on the payments and yes I can pay after the filing. if the house have more than 5k in equity what the court do? and how they determine the value of the house? Thank you.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

I think because you're so close and the market has dropped so much that your first move should be to revalue your house. This may be as easy as looking online or talking to a real estate agent. Are there a lot of foreclosures and for sale signs in your area that weren't there 2 years ago? If so, that is very much in your favor.

A trustee can go online and use various sites to get an approximate value on your home; if you have an appraisal of your own to offer, that helps. I have heard the ones online tend to be high, which is why I say that. I'm sure others will chime in with more specific advice, but those are my thoughts. Good luck!!!

[thewiz4u]

can someone can direct me to a good BK attorney in the Cleveland, OH area? Thank You

[keepmine]

If you're a few grand over the exemption level, you'll be OK. The truste faces the same costs to sell a home as you do. Relator fees, upkeep while the home is vavcant, etc. They'll likely abandon any interest in the equity if it's nominal.

[tay666]

can someone can direct me to a good BK attorney in the Cleveland, OH area? Thank You

Well, I don't know how good any of these attournies are.
I haven't talked to any of them. These are just some links I have found while searching for attourneys around here.
(I'm about 2 hours east of Cleveland)

http://www.cablawonline.com/hearings.htm

http://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practicestate/Bankruptcy-Law/Ohio

http://www.smgraylaw.com/Firm-Overview.html

You can easily find more with a few googles searches.
Or better yet, just check the classifieds in the paper.
There are a bunch that advertise in our local paper, I am sure the Cleveland papers probably have tons of them.

Schedule some free consultations and get a feel for the lawyers.
Find one you are comfortable with and seems like they know what they are doing.
Make sure you post your questions here at this forum and see if you get similar responses from any lawyer you are considering hiring.
There are a ton of people here that know what they are talking about.
Use that knowledge to help weed out the shady lawyers.
Just like any business, there are good ones and bad ones. Ones trying to force you into a !3 when you can really qulaify for a &. Or ones that will tell you what they think you want to hear so you will hire them.