I live in PA. I am married but not on house deed or mortgage. Can I file chapter 7 without risking the house?

Why do you need to file Bankruptcy? Your income from SSD is not subject to a wage garnishment, and as you say, the house is not in your name, so no creditor can put a lien against it. Although you might want to file Bankruptcy to stop the creditor harassment or to work on rebuilding your credit, I don't recommend bankruptcy to anyone with less than $25,000 in debt unless there is a foreclosure at stake. Good luck!

Yes, you can file Chapter 7 without risking the house since you are not on the deed or the note. Whether you actually should file bankruptcy depends on your what you want. Creditors will keep harassing you and eventually sue you for what you owe. Filing bankruptcy will guarantee that they NEVER come after you in the future. Although they can not garnish your SSD, they can still freeze your bank accounts after they sue you and obtain a judgment.

Under the circumstances you describe, you can file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy without risking your home. The personal property you mentioned would be exempt. However, if any of the other $17,000 in debt is joint debt with your husband, he would still be responsible for the joint debts after your liability was discharged in bankruptcy. This is generally not a problem, as the bankruptcy would not appear on his credit report. As to whether you should file, it depends to some extent on how much collection activity you can stomach. SSD payments, including those deposited in a bank account, are exempt by federal law from collection (some complications can arise if the account contains deposits from other sources as well). In addition, it appears that you have no substantial assets. Therefore, you may be "judgment proof", meaning if the creditors sue you and obtain a judgment, there is nothing they can get. On the other hand, it is likely that creditors will continue to try collect from you and eventually sue you. Moreover, there is something to be said for getting this unfortunate situation behind you.

I agree with my fellow attorneys comments. You should not have a problem filing a Chapter 7 given the circumstances that you described. As others have mentioned, you may not need to file bankruptcy if you have no assets for the creditors to take. Of course, you should keep in mind that filing for bankruptcy will give you a clean slate and let you start over. It would no longer be a problem for assets to be in your name following a bankruptcy but if a judgment is obtained against you, it could continue to haunt you for years and prevent you from acquiring assets in the future without fear of seizure of those assets. If you would like to discuss your situation, feel free to give my PA office a call. I offer free consultations and would be glad to discuss your options with you on the phone. My PA office is 570-427-8409. Best of luck.