Transfered House Before Filing

[Ambercrombie]

About 5 years ago, my sister and her husband were buying a house but my brother-in-law's credit was bad and mine was good so I co-signed with my sister. My name was on the mortgage and the title. I never paid or received any money for this, never lived there, and never claimed it on any taxes - I just lent her my name/good credit.

Last August, my fiance and I were thinking about buying a condo so I had my name taken off the mortgage and title and left my sister as the only name for both. Soon after that, my fiance got injured and couldn't work, my bills stacked up, and now I am going to file Chapter 7.

There was no fraud on my part but I have been told different things by different attorneys so I'm looking for a consensus opinion about whether this asset transfer would prohibit me from filing or could the Trustee do anything to my sister's house or is there a certain amount of time after the asset transfer that I should wait before filing - I have read everything from "wait 6 months after the transfer" to "they can go back 5 years and void asset transfers."

I need all the help and advice I can get.

Thank you.

[LuciluS]

Just a suggestion as no mention of your home State you will be filing Chapter 7 and if condo was located in same State.

'Google' Transfer of Assets before bankruptcy in (insert your state). You should be able to find 'the specific bankruptcy law'.

Luci

[Ambercrombie]

[biotechsolution]

to be pretty safe you should wait 2 years before you file.

[LuciluS]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_in_the_United_States#Fraudulent_transfer

Fraudulent transfer

Bankruptcy fraudulent transfer law is similar in practice to non-bankruptcy fraudulent transfer law, however some terms are more generous in bankruptcy than they are otherwise. For instance, the statute of limitations within bankruptcy is two years as opposed to a shorter time frame in most non-bankruptcy contexts. Generally a fraudulent transfer action performs much in the same way as a preference avoidance, however fraudulent transfer actions usually require a showing of intent to shelter the property from a creditor.

[music12]

i would think since you never put any money into the house, and never lived in it, you could simply say that it was never yours. because that's the truth. hopefully you can get all the documentation that proves that any and all payments on the house were made by your sister and her husband. you have no interest in the property and never really did.

i would hope the bankruptcy code would allow the trustee to see that and let it go. it would be really unfair otherwise.

[justbroke]

I believe that the real issue is whether there was any value in that property. If the property has no equity... this is all moot. Since it was subject to a mortgage and note (payments to a lender), I'm guessing that it wasn't owned outright.

If the property has not equity, it would be an absolute waste of time, money and energy for the U.S. Trustee (UST) to undue the transfer. Why? What would it do? All it would do is put it back as property of your Estate. Then, if there's no equity, the Trustee would abandon it anyhow.

That's just my interpretation of what I've read. If there is equity in it, the Trustee would surely be trying to figure out how to get at "your" portion of it.

So the real question is... how much equity is there in that property?

[music12]

and once they figure out how much equity there is, of that equity the OP's portion would be zero.

[danaf]

I completely agree with JustBroke's interpretation of this situation.

[Ambercrombie]

The other big issue is that I just recieved a judgement against me and am being ordered to provide my bank and employer information - I have been keeping money out of the bank and just using cash for everything but they could start garnishing my wages and I can't afford that but it's looking like I might not be able to file for over a year because of the asset transfer issue - I can't afford to have me wages garnished for over a year but I don't want to risk my sister's house...I just feel so trapped.

[justbroke]

I just feel so trapped.

You need legal consultation. That's the best way to determine what your options are, especially around what I don't think is a transfer which the Trustee will seek to undue.

[TEW]

About 5 years ago, my sister and her husband were buying a house but my brother-in-law's credit was bad and mine was good so I co-signed with my sister. My name was on the mortgage and the title. I never paid or received any money for this, never lived there, and never claimed it on any taxes - I just lent her my name/good credit.

Last August, my fiance and I were thinking about buying a condo so I had my name taken off the mortgage and title and left my sister as the only name for both. Soon after that, my fiance got injured and couldn't work, my bills stacked up, and now I am going to file Chapter 7.

There was no fraud on my part but I have been told different things by different attorneys so I'm looking for a consensus opinion about whether this asset transfer would prohibit me from filing or could the Trustee do anything to my sister's house or is there a certain amount of time after the asset transfer that I should wait before filing - I have read everything from "wait 6 months after the transfer" to "they can go back 5 years and void asset transfers."

I need all the help and advice I can get.

Thank you.

I'd like to know how you did it. how did you just take your name off the note and the deed with out your sister doing a refinance. How do you do a quick claim deed with a lien on the asset?
If I were and amateur UST I would surly ask some questions.