equity protection - Posted by jerry

Posted by Joe Kaiser on June 09, 2006 at 24:08:51:

You need a lawyer.

Homestead laws vary from state to state, but you may have protection
already in place.

Joe

equity protection - Posted by jerry

Posted by jerry on June 08, 2006 at 23:41:53:

hi
i am new to this site and i need immediate help!
a few years ago i was in an auto accident that layed me up for 2 years and all the bills came to about 500,000.(person that caused the wreck had only 25,000 coverage)
i am not able to work; so i have had no way to pay any of my debt.
family have been paying my immediate needs.
i have several judgements and unpaid tax bills waiting for me to sell to take all my equity.
my parents need help and want me to move near them but the only way i can do that is with the equity from my house.(they live 4 hours away)
is there anyway to protect my equity
or to make me judgement and tax proof?
thank you for your help.

Re: equity protection - Posted by bk

Posted by bk on June 11, 2006 at 13:05:03:

Seems like you need to consult an attorney that specializes in bankruptcy. Don’t go the cheap route with just a paralegal; get the best to do the job right, it will be worth every penny unless you are just doing a very simple, straightforward bk which this doesn’t appear to be. Take advantage of the typical free 1/2 hour initial consultation that most lawyers give you and interview at least two or three. Get them to tell you what they believe to be your best option(s), what they will do for you, and the total cost to do it. Before you go to the initial meetings be sure you bring with you a clear list of all the bills, assets, etc. so he knows exactly what he is dealing with.

Because you would have a “medical bk” (the financial problems started with the accident) you might fall under some different bk rules…in any case, doing a bk properly can be quite complex and the rules have changed. Whether or not you get to save your house will be dependent on different factors and the laws in your state. You might be able to save it because of homesteading rules or if the equity meets certain limits or even possibly get rid of the liens placed against it. In any case, it’s better that you find out your legal options sooner than later in order to decide which course of action to take to resolve this problem and hopefully discharge the bills. But even if you can’t and you need to start over from scratch with a bk on your record, you need to deal with it and get rid of this negative baggage in your life so you can move forward to better things.
Good luck.

To me this is just another example of how the insurance industry is really not taking care of people. Most will take $25k coverage premiums and not go out of their way to tell buyers it really isn’t enough and that for only a measly few bucks more they can significantly increase their coverage. Today $25k in coverage is a drop in the bucket but that is the typical amount people carry. Many victims of car accidents are financially destroyed because of this, or because the people that hit them aren’t even carrying insurance. This is why everybody needs to be sure they are carrying enough of their own insurance to cover both the non-insured and the under-insured.