Expert: Terry Leeders - 11/16/2008

Question
My rentals and bed and breakfast properties are my source of income.  There is no equity at this time.  Can I keep my properties in a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
Can I rent my primary residence some of the time and still retain ownership as my primary residence?

Answer
If you do chapter 13, you can keep them all, since you are paying back debt to protect the assets.  With chapter 7, the court will look to see if you have any equity in them for the trustee to liquidate to pay your creditors, as well as income/expense ratio- ie. they could object if you are losing money on the property and try to discharge the debt while keeping these properties that are losing money.  You need to discuss with a local attorney about your last question, as you could lose your homestead exemption if you rent it out.