I have filed my paperwork in court, received a case number, and have a creditors meeting scheduled. I have not included a real estate property that I did not know my name was on the deed. Can I make a change at this point and claim the property as exempt? I did not included the property on an of the paperwork. What will happen to the property if I am unable to make a change and exempt it from the bankruptcy? The property is co-owned with someone else as well. They make the payments and do not wish to loose the property.
Yes, you can and should amend your Schedule A to show that you have an ownership interest in real estate. Exempting the property is another matter. It depends on the way the real estate is titled, and on the actual amount of equity in the property. If there is a mortgage, as it would appear, then the sale value of the property, less costs of sale (typically 10%) and the amount of the pay-off on the mortgage will be considered by the Trustee in your case. If there is little or no equity in your share, then the Trustee is likely to abandon any interest in the property. You may have to use your homestead exemption to exempt some of the equity, and then amend your Schedule C. I strongly advise you to retain a bankruptcy lawyer to assist you in this matter before the meeting of creditors. The worst case would be having the property sold by the Trustee. The money that your "saved" by not hiring a bankruptcy lawyer to file your case will do you no good if the worst case happens!
People often make mistakes on their bankruptcy paperwork & it is important to correct any mistake before you get to the 341 and get caught in a lie. The correction is called an amendment. Whether you will be eligible to claim the property as exempt under the laws available to you is going to be a serious issue to deal with. If the property is not eligible for an exemption, your bankruptcy trustee will have the right to sell it and use your share of the proceeds to pay your creditors. So this is why I compare filing bankruptcy without an experienced attorney to jumping off of a cliff blindfolded. A good story of warning to others considering bankruptcy. Hope this perspective helps!
I mostly agree with the other answers. You absolutely must amend your schedules to include the interest. Failure to do so is fraud.
As to whether you can exempt your equity interest in the property, that depends on which state's exemption laws apply in your case, and what you have available. If you are not living in the property, then you cannot use a homestead exemption on it.
If there is non-exempt equity in your interest in the property, then the trustee will likely sell the property. You might be able to avoid that by converting your case to Chapter 13.
But the bottom line here is you absolutely must hire an experienced bankruptcy attorney to represent you. You are rapidly tumbling down a path towards a disaster that will affect you and the co-owner to the property.
