Will I Lose My House and/or Personal Property if I File for Bankruptcy?
No, in most cases you will not lose your house or any of your personal property if you file for bankruptcy in Tampa or in any Florida jurisdiction. Although the bankruptcy rules are federal (in other words, they were drafted by the United States Congress), Florida law sets out what you can protect or “exempt” when you file.
The good news here is that Florida has a very extensive and comprehensive exemption statute, meaning that as a Florida resident, you can protect a wide variety of property. Here is what this means:
When you meet with your Clark and Washington lawyer (David Singha, Laura Post, Lauren Osa) to prepare your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case filing, we will need to identify and reveal all of your property. If you have ownership in a house, that is considered “real property.” If you have a vehicle, furniture, clothes, sporting equipment, etc., that is considered “personal property.”
Your real and personal property are your “assets.” The bankruptcy law requires that we identify all of your assets in the bankruptcy paperwork that we file with the court.
How Florida’s Exemption Laws
Protect Your Assets
The Florida exemption law protects your assets by protecting them from the reach of your bankruptcy trustee. If there were no exemptions, your trustee could seize and sell your assets and use the money to pay your creditors. Fortunately the United States Congress and the Florida legislature recognize that people who file for bankruptcy need to keep their basic necessities in order to make that “fresh start.” The Florida bankruptcy exemption law is long and comprehensive - you can read the text of the law by clicking on the link.
If you own property that is not covered by an exemption, then you will have a decision to make - you can give up that property to your Chapter 7 trustee, or you can keep your non-exempt property, but you would have to file a Chapter 13 case that accounted for that property.
As a practical matter, Florida’s exemption laws are extensive enough such that most people who file do not have real or personal property that exceeds the exemptions. Nevertheless, exemption calculation and planning is one of the most important services that your Clark and Washington lawyer can provide for you.
At Clark and Washington, we recognize that you will be concerned about keeping your “stuff” and our attorneys and staff have spent a great deal of time learning about and applying the Florida exemption laws.
Special Exemption Rules for
New Florida Residents
By the way, if you have moved to Florida within the last few years, you may be subject to limits on what you can exempt and you may even need to file using a different State’s exemption rules. Clark and Washington has you covered in this situation. Our lawyers are highly educated about the complex and sometimes confusing rules that apply when new or relatively new Florida residents need to file for bankruptcy.
Exemption laws and the rules about how these law are to be applied are some of the most complex components of bankruptcy filing. For this reason alone, Clark and Washington encourages Tampa area residents to contact our office at 813-345-5954 for a friendly, no-obligation consultation. We would be happy to look over your list of assets and discuss any exemption issues that might exist.
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