If you file Bankruptcy and have a home, you probably already know that it’s probably protected.
But what if you try to sell or refinance your home?
A title insurance company or the bank will tell you that a judgment must be paid, instead of the money going to you.
This article tells you how to avoid that, even if you haven’t filed bankruptcy!
If someone sues you and wins, they get a “judgment.” That judgment is not “against your house.” Instead, it attaches to ANY and ALL real estate you own – except your home!! It can NEVER attach to your home.
Many people don’t know any better. They pay the judgment out of the sale or refinance proceeds, or worse – they let it kill off the whole deal.
The problem pops up because the title insurance company has no way of legally knowing that it qualifies as your “home.” The Florida Statutes have a fix for this problem!
Under Chapter 55 of the Florida Statutes (contained in Florida Statute number 222.01), there is a fairly simple procedure for allowing for the judgment to be ignored. I call it the “45 day procedure.” You can link to the statute here. That statute itself lays out in very simple terms the form to be used, that is then filed with the court, stating that the judgment is interfering with your homestead rights. When no objection to the notice is filed after 45 days, the title insurance company will know it can ignore that judgment.
For over 35 years, listening to clients and putting them at ease, while finding solutions and helping achieve future goals, in Marion County, Lake County. Citrus County, Sumter County, and The Villages.
