How does the Homestead Declaration help protect a home against unsecured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings?
Remember that the Homestead Declaration protects a homeowner only from unsecured creditors. It will not offer protection from first or second mortgage lenders and/or equity lenders who possess a security interest in a home. If payments are not current on these types of secured credit, a homeowner runs the risk of losing the home to foreclosure proceedings. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which is an asset liquidation proceeding, a homeowner is allowed to claim certain exemptions which function as asset protection allowances. If a Homestead Declaration is in place, and the state exemptions are claimed, a homeowner would be allowed to retain a much greater portion of the proceeds from a liquidations sale of the home than s/he would be allowed to keep under federal bankruptcy law exemptions. This factor in turn decreases (or eliminates) the possibility that the homeowner would be required to sell his/her home as part of Chapter 7 proceedings. In all Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings, the court
