Filing for Bankruptcy While Keeping Your Home and Car
If you’re considering filing for bankruptcy in Ohio, you may wonder whether you will lose vital possessions like your house and car. Fortunately, there are certain circumstances under which you may have the right to preserve your home or vehicle in bankruptcy. You can learn about which Ohio bankruptcy exemptions apply in your case by speaking with an experienced attorney.
The Ohio Homestead Exemption and Other Ohio Bankruptcy Exemptions
In Ohio, a person who files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy may rely on the state’s homestead exemption to protect their home from seizure and liquidation. The exemption increases every few years based on the consumer price index. With the homestead exemption, a debtor can protect the equity in their primary residence up to the exemption limit.
Ohio also offers other exemptions that allow debtors to keep various assets in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy up to specific amounts, such as:
- Equity in a motor vehicle
- Cash
- Household items, such as furniture, appliances, or kitchen/dining items
- Jewelry
- Professional books or tools of the trade
- Retirement accounts
- Burial plots
- Public benefits like Social Security
- Insurance
The bankruptcy exemptions usually do not apply in Chapter 13 bankruptcies, which allow debtors to keep all their assets and instead pay off debts over three or five years.
Secured vs. Unsecured Debts
Bankruptcy handles secured and unsecured debts differently. Secured debts include debts where an asset serves as collateral for the loan, such as a mortgage or a car loan. When a debtor defaults on a secured debt, the creditor can seize the asset and sell it to generate funds to pay off the loan. Conversely, unsecured debts have no assets or collateral to secure payment of the loan.
In bankruptcy, a debtor has three options for dealing with secured debts. They may reaffirm the debt by agreeing to continue making payments to keep the collateral, redeem the collateral by obtaining a new loan to pay off the secured debt, or surrender the collateral to pay off the secured loan.
Contact Our Ohio Bankruptcy Attorneys for Help
If you’re considering filing for bankruptcy, hiring experienced legal counsel who can help you protect as many assets as possible is crucial. Contact Amourgis & Associates, Attorneys at Law, today for a free consultation with a knowledgeable bankruptcy attorney to learn more about protecting your home and car during bankruptcy.
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At Amourgis & Associates, Attorneys at Law, we only represent consumers. We fight for regular people who have been seriously hurt in accidents. We fight for people who are being crushed by overwhelming debt and need a fresh start. We fight for individuals and families. Never businesses. Never insurance companies. We are loyal to the consumer.
