First, let me say THANK YOU to those who take the time to answer questions here!
I guess I will start by giving a little background information on our situation. We are married. We have a mortgage that is in my husband’s name only (my name is on the deed) with a balance of $36,000. We are unsure of our exact equity in the home but when we bought it 2 years ago, it was appraised for around $89k. Giving us $53k in equity. However, we feel that is not an accurate appraisal because the home is in poor condition. After closing on the home, the insurance company came out to take pictures and collect more info for the policy and we received a letter a week later informing us that the policy was being canceled. The home is uninsurable because of its condition (we tried several other companies after that) and we now pay for forced placed insurance through the bank (protects their interest in the home, not ours). Moving on, my husband has two vehicles with loans ($30k and $15k), a credit card ($5k) and a personal loan for $15k in his name only. The only debt in my name is medical (roughly $20k).
We have payed the attorney his retainer fee and submitted some documents to him but have not filed yet. Here are our concerns..we want to keep the house and the $15k truck loan out of bankruptcy. The farmhouse has been in my husband’s family a LONG time (every one of our neighbors is family) and our plan has always been to buy it and remodel it. If we cannot keep the house out of bankruptcy, then we will not file. Indiana gives roughly $20,000 per person exemption for home equity but we exceed that if we go by the appraisal value from two years ago that we disagree with. (The attorney is supposed to be sending a real estate evaluator out to assess the home before we file.) My question is, since the majority of the debt that we want discharged is in my husband’s name only, should he file separately and would that protect the house from bankruptcy since my name is on the deed? All of our payments are current and we live in Indiana if it matters. Any input is appreciated!!
I guess I will start by giving a little background information on our situation. We are married. We have a mortgage that is in my husband’s name only (my name is on the deed) with a balance of $36,000. We are unsure of our exact equity in the home but when we bought it 2 years ago, it was appraised for around $89k. Giving us $53k in equity. However, we feel that is not an accurate appraisal because the home is in poor condition. After closing on the home, the insurance company came out to take pictures and collect more info for the policy and we received a letter a week later informing us that the policy was being canceled. The home is uninsurable because of its condition (we tried several other companies after that) and we now pay for forced placed insurance through the bank (protects their interest in the home, not ours). Moving on, my husband has two vehicles with loans ($30k and $15k), a credit card ($5k) and a personal loan for $15k in his name only. The only debt in my name is medical (roughly $20k).
We have payed the attorney his retainer fee and submitted some documents to him but have not filed yet. Here are our concerns..we want to keep the house and the $15k truck loan out of bankruptcy. The farmhouse has been in my husband’s family a LONG time (every one of our neighbors is family) and our plan has always been to buy it and remodel it. If we cannot keep the house out of bankruptcy, then we will not file. Indiana gives roughly $20,000 per person exemption for home equity but we exceed that if we go by the appraisal value from two years ago that we disagree with. (The attorney is supposed to be sending a real estate evaluator out to assess the home before we file.) My question is, since the majority of the debt that we want discharged is in my husband’s name only, should he file separately and would that protect the house from bankruptcy since my name is on the deed? All of our payments are current and we live in Indiana if it matters. Any input is appreciated!!
Bankruptcy Wizard
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