Will I lose any of my personal belongings or household goods when I file bankruptcy?

If you are filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and remain current under the court approved Chapter 13 plan , the Trustee at the Bankruptcy Court will not take any of your personal belongings or household goods and sell them to pay your debts.

If you are filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the only way you could lose any personal belongings or household goods is if either of the following conditions apply:

You do not totally own the personal belongings or household goods because you are still making payments on them. (Example: appliances or furniture purchased on credit.) In this case, if you want to keep the item, you can "reaffirm" the debt if you have enough money per month to keep paying the bill and are current on your payments.

Otherwise, you may want to surrender the item, which does not necessarily mean it will be repossessed. It depends on the market value of the item and whether or not the company feels it will come out ahead after the expense of repossession, warehousing, and re-selling the item. This is often the case for high depreciation items.

Also:

If the personal belonging or household good is not covered by an exemption, the item could be sold by the Trustee with profits being distributed to your creditors. But, don't be alarmed by this. Most consumers filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy normally do not have more than one car, boat, TV, computer, plus miscellaneous household goods like (clothes & furnishings) and these items will most likely be covered by the state or federal exemptions in your bankruptcy petition.

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