QUESTION
Can I avoid a lien after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy?
Asked on Mar 11th, 2011 on Bankruptcy - California
More details to this question:
I am 66 and need to know if once a judicial lien on my exempt home is avoided in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, can that creditor put it right back on my home or is that creditor permanently prevented from ever putting that lien on my home by the bankruptcy ruling?
5 ANSWERS
If the judicial lien is eligible to be removed or "stripped" due to impairment of your exemption, then it would be permanently removed and the creditor forever barred from collecting on the debt.
Answered on Mar 16th, 2011 at 1:25 PM
Motions to avoid judicial liens are brought under 11 U.S.C. Section 522(f) of the bankruptcy code. If your motion is granted, then the creditor is permanently barred from putting that lien back on your home. You should have expert bankruptcy counsel assist you in the analysis and preparation of the motion. For a free consultation, call me.
Answered on Mar 14th, 2011 at 5:08 PM
Norma Duenas
If a judgment lien was placed on your exempt property by a judgment creditor then you can avoid this lien by filing a 522(f) motion in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Under 522 (f) an non consensual lien on exempt property can be avoided to the extent it impairs your homestead exemption. Once the lien has been avoided in bankruptcy the creditor cannot place the lien again on your property.
Answered on Mar 14th, 2011 at 1:20 PM
You should make a motion to avoid the lien as impairing exempt property under 522(f). Contact my office if you need further assistance and you are not represented by counsel.
Answered on Mar 14th, 2011 at 1:13 PM
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If the debt is discharged in the bankrutpcy case then they can never put a judicial lien on your home since there is no debt on which the lien could be based. Therefore, no debt, no lien possible. The judicial lien you now have against your home is not enforceable if the debt was discharged. The problem is that the judicial lien clouds the title to your property and will make more difficult to do a sale or refinance so it is better to have it declared void by the bankruptcy court while the case is still open. That way you will not have to be proving that the debt was discharged when in the future you sell your home or refinance the mortgage. It is realtively cheap to do it and it is worth to remove the lien created when the creditor filed the Abstract of Judgment with the County Recorder's Office.
Answered on Mar 14th, 2011 at 1:12 PM