The trustee changed the locks while a stay was in place? This sounds like a bankruptcy trustee while an automatic stay was in effect. The reference to the sheriff evicting is not consistent with an automatic stay being in place. So more information is necessary. If the stay is no longer in effect and the sheriff will remove the holdover tenants, then yes you will have the right to possession. The sheriff will only remove the tenants if a court has given to you a writ of possession. So, once the sheriff has acted you are taking possession. What you do after you take possession, like claim a homestead, is up to you.
When property is determined not to be eligible for an exemption, a bankruptcy trustee has the absolute right to step into the shoes of the owner. The authority of the bankruptcy court supercedes the authority of almost every other court. The time to claim a homestead is BEFORE you filed bankruptcy, any subsequent claims of homestead would likely be worthless. Hope this perspective helps!
This appears to be a expansion of a prior question. If the chapter 7 of the property owner is already filed, and the tenant is only now being evicted, the probabilities are that the property owner will not be entitled to a homestead exemption. Again, without sitting down with the owner and going over the specific facts, it's impossible to say what the best course of action might be or if there is a liklihood of claiming the homestead. Talk to your attorney asap.
Based on the facts provided, it's difficult to even determine what's going on. It sounds like the owner or property filed bankruptcy. You were a tenant under an agreement with the owner. The sheriff is now terminating your occupancy based on a state court judgment.
If you are not the one that filed bankruptcy, you have no protection due to the bankruptcy of the owner. If the owner claimed this property as exempt, he/she would have the right to take possession if you were in default (you must have been or the sheriff wouldn't be serving an eviction). It's possible that the owner terminated the lease as part of the bankruptcy.
You refer to a "trustee" changing the locks. Is this the bankruptcy trustee or the trustee holding the Deed of Trust on the property after a foreclosure sale? It's hard to tell.
Either way you do not gain protection in the bankruptcy court when you are not the one filing, unless you had some lien or other ownership rights.
Finally, why would you be concerned about whether the owner, the person that filed bankruptcy, can claim a homestead?
