Yes, you can sell your house even if you are in the middle of your Chapter 13 case.  However, you must obtain permission from the judge if you want to sell your house because a sale will change your financial picture, and thus impact your plan.   Here at Clark & Washington we regularly prepare and file motions to sell property.  We will need to include in our motion and associated paperwork:

• information about proceeds received – will you be walking out of closing with a check?
• if you will receive sale proceeds, what do you intend to do with the money?
• information about your new budget – presumably you will have new living expenses at a new place to live

Sometimes we will have to strike a deal with the trustee to pay some of the sale proceeds into your plan.  Sometimes we will not have to do this.

If you have arranged to buy a new house and will use the sale proceeds for a down payment or moving expenses, we will have to file another motion to obtain permission from the judge to do this.

Motions to Sell Property and Motions to Incur New Mortgage Debt are not complicated motions but as you can see, when you are in bankruptcy this process can become more complicated.   Clark & Washington clients can rest easy knowing that their experienced Chapter 13 attorneys have handled numerous Motions to Sell and Motions to Incur New Debt.

Obviously if you want to sell property and you are in bankruptcy, you should contact your lawyer even before you talk to a real estate agent.   The real estate agent will need to be authorized to act as a professional agent by the bankruptcy judge as well.