When you realize filing for bankruptcy is a necessary option, you may feel a sense of panic that you may lose your family home and the car on which you rely. The great thing about living in our state is that Florida offers a homestead exemption to prevent its residents from becoming homeless when debts become too much to handle.
The homestead exemption makes it against protective laws for creditors to come after any portion of a debtor’s residence when it is protected as a homestead.
It does no one any good if a debtor is put on the street after filing for bankruptcy. What does benefit everyone is to get paid as much as possible through the sale of other assets, see debtors satisfied and give the debtor a chance to start anew with a clean slate and get things right.
The only time a creditor can force the sale of your home when it is protected under homestead exemptions is when your property taxes are in significant arrears, or if the home was pledged as mortgage collateral, if the property was improved at the expense of another company who never received payment for their work or creditors already had a lien in place before it received homestead protections.
If you have concerns about what exemptions you will have after filing for a bankruptcy, you may find significant relief in talking with a Florida bankruptcy attorney. He or she may be able to answer the difficult questions and set your mind at ease that whatever decision you ultimately make, it is the right one.