Florida Bankruptcy Attorney Blog

One of the most important parts of the bankruptcy code involves the homestead exemption. Florida homeowners usually qualify for this exemption, provided they are living in the home as a primary residence. The exemption allows you to keep your home even if there is equity in the home. At the current time there are many Orlando homeowners that can be described as "underwater" in their home. In fact, many throughout Florida have the same problem in our current economic situation. "Underwater" means that the mortgage principal balance on the home (or "balances" in the case of a home secured under two mortgages) exceeds the value of the home. In this case the bankruptcy debtor will not worry about applying the homestead exemption, and instead exempt greater amounts of their other property. For awhile the ability of homeowners to take advantage of expanding their personal exemptions when a home was "underwater" was unclear. But recent cases have clearly suggested this is the case, and we have incorporated this into all of our bankruptcy petitions. Homeowners throughout Orlando and beyond can therefore be sure they are obtaining maximum exemptions and the ability to keep the most property possible when they come to consult with us.