I am filing my Chap 7 pro se tomorrow morning, and I just want to run one last question by the BKForum collective. It concerns the house. I am on title with my BF as 50% Tenants in Common, and we are current on our payments and will remain so.
Got a broker's price opinion on the house and it came out such that if the house were to be in a forced sale, after the costs of selling it and paying off the mortgage there would be exactly $0 left over--or maybe even a small bit in the negative. On top of that, I am declaring $20,000 in homestead exemption just to be further protected. Now, as I understand it, with numbers such as this, there is no point for a trustee to force the sale of the house. There would be nothing left above the mortgage, sale costs, and my exemption to disperse to creditors. Am I right here? I ask as the pro bono attorney I have been working with is nervous about this question and thinks that the trustee might be able to take the house and sell it--even though technically I only own 50% of it. Due to the numbers, I think his fear is moot, but he is so worried about it that he wants me to get a second opinion. I tried, but I cannot find an attorney who will just answer this one question. They crisply tell me that they do not sell their services 'a la carte'.
Anyone have any wisdom on this?
Got a broker's price opinion on the house and it came out such that if the house were to be in a forced sale, after the costs of selling it and paying off the mortgage there would be exactly $0 left over--or maybe even a small bit in the negative. On top of that, I am declaring $20,000 in homestead exemption just to be further protected. Now, as I understand it, with numbers such as this, there is no point for a trustee to force the sale of the house. There would be nothing left above the mortgage, sale costs, and my exemption to disperse to creditors. Am I right here? I ask as the pro bono attorney I have been working with is nervous about this question and thinks that the trustee might be able to take the house and sell it--even though technically I only own 50% of it. Due to the numbers, I think his fear is moot, but he is so worried about it that he wants me to get a second opinion. I tried, but I cannot find an attorney who will just answer this one question. They crisply tell me that they do not sell their services 'a la carte'.
Anyone have any wisdom on this?