Can Mortgage holder "take" your house back?

[imoverit]

If you had a private mortgage and filed BK... Chapter 7 or 13 for that matter, if the financer was uncomfortable with the fact that you filed, could they legally take it back even if everything was up to date? Florida is the state...

TIA

[TEW]

Do you have a contract with the private mortgage hold? I would think that you can reaffirm that agreement
Do you have a lawyer ?

[imoverit]

I do not have a contract... There is a potential one in the works... I have not filed nor am I late with anything and I do not have a lawyer...I am just thinking of the possibilities..

[TEW]

I can understand the other persons concern. If they sign the contract and you file then he is enjoined from collecting that debt. If you file and then sign AFTER discharge he has a collectible debt.
in fact it puts him in a better position since you can not file again for 8 years.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Florida is a homestead state, and due to a person long ago taking houses away from illiterate people who did not know or pay land taxes, there are special laws. Now I am not a lawyer so this is all I can say. You must have some sort of agreement and if you are current I don’t think a Judge will force you out of your homestead. You did apply for the homestead exemption, I hope. More info would be good. ‘Hub

[HHM]

I do not have a contract... There is a potential one in the works... I have not filed nor am I late with anything and I do not have a lawyer...I am just thinking of the possibilities..

So you haven't really bought the house yet?

[imoverit]

No haven't bought the house yet...haven't filed yet...haven't done anything yet. Filing I'm sure is in our future. We are letting our current house go for a few different reasons. We will need a place to live and the mortgage payment would be cheaper than rent! We will probably file sometime in the spring. If the seller offers us financing why not take it instead of rent? The payment on the new house is a savings of $1600 a month.

[2Bshinyandnew]

I believe the future home would be protected as long as you are occupying it at the time you file.

As long as you have been a Florida resident, living in Florida for at least 2 years prior to filing, your homestead, the home you live in, is an exempt asset. If you have lived in the home for less than 40 months prior to filing, the amount of equity you can exempt is limited to $137,000 ($274,000 if filing a joint petition)

So the answer is, no, your home cannot be taken away, as long as you have been a Florida resident for the previous 2 years, even if there is equity in it, up to the amounts and terms stated above. As long as you have a perfected mortgage contract, if you file bankruptcy seeking to reaffirm that contract and have not defaulted on the terms in any way, the lender cannot take the house back even if he "feels uncomfortable".

Just be sure to read any mortgage agreement carefully before signing.

[keptdigging]

I'm in California and not a lawyer, but I did re-read my Deeds of Trust in anticipation of filing and noted that neither my first nor second even mentions bankruptcy nor considers a change in financial circumstances a "default". The DOTs are concerned with me making the payments and protecting/preserving the collateral (the property), keeping it insured etc. etc. (The 2nd is a HELOC which also had provisions for suspending the line and not making new advances but that's not the same as trying to foreclose on existing advances.)

However there's bk law on this as well... maybe some conflicting decisions... meaning it is all local.