Greenville, CA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

Bankruptcy will prolong the eviction. It will stop it until the new owner obtains permission from the bankruptcy court to proceed with the eviction. How soon and how easily the new owner can obtain permission to evict you from the bankruptcy court depends on the status of the eviction in the California court. If the new owner already has an order for possession from the Superior Court, then he or she can quickly obtain relief of stay (permission) from the bankruptcy court to have the Sheriff execute the order for possession. You should have fought your claim that you owned the house in the eviction case in the California Superior Court. It might be too late to bring that up in the bankruptcy court. You need to discuss this with a local bankruptcy attorney and might need a real estate attorney also if you have a strong claim about having bought the house and not received a deed from the seller (your landlord). Unless you can prove that the new owner had notice or should have known that you had purchased the house, it will be difficult to oppose the eviction by the new owner on that basis. You might be able to sue the landlord for your damages. Filing bankruptcy just to prolong an eviction is risky and should be carefully considered only after consultation with an experienced loca bankruptcy attorney. Many things need to be considered and not just the eviction in the decision as to the best legal option.

You need to protect your rights in that Chapter 13 case. You need to review the schedules and Chapter 13 plan to see how the rent-to-own contract is characterized and you may need to file a proof of claim, among other things, if it is not being honored. It is possible that the owners can evict you if you don't protect your rights on time. Unless you are dealing with a very large amount, you may want to retain counsel duly licensed to practice where the Chapter 13 case was filed. Make sure the attorney represents creditors in Chapter 13 cases as not all bankruptcy attorneys do. If you retain an attorney from a different state, you may need local counsel who may charge an additional fee.

You do not need to do a reaffirmation agreement to refinance your home.  If a lender is telling you that, find a new lender.  In any event, you cannot reaffirm a debt after your discharge.  But perhaps more importantly, there is no reason or requirement to reaffirm a mortgage debt in California.