Court Makes Bankruptcy Easier For Mobile Home Residents

A bankruptcy court in Tampa made bankruptcy easier for people who live in mobile homes on rented mobile home lots. A recently enacted Florida statute provides a $4,000 "wildcard" exemption for personal property which courts have said can be tacked on to the separate $1,000 exemptions for automobiles and general personal property such as household furnishings. However, courts have held that debtors who claim, or benefit from, the Constitutional homestead exemption cannot use the $4,000 wildcard exemption to protect their cars or their belongings. The Tampa court decisions said that debtor who exempt a mobile home situated on rented property can protect the home in bankruptcy and also claim the wildcard exemption.

The judge found that Constitutional homestead exemption requires the debtor to own real property. The mobile home owner who rents his lot does not own the real property he lives on and does not, therefore, benefit under the Constitutional homestead clause. The same mobile home debtor can still protect his home, but his protection is not afforded by the Constitutional homestead law. Section 222.05, Florida Statutes exempts a debtor’s mobile home and modular home locted on "land not his own... which he ... may lawfully possess, by lease or otherwise...." Claiming the statutory exemption does not forfeit the $4,000 wildcard exemption because the debtor does not benefit from the Constitutional homestead exemption. The case is In Re Richard Lisowski, Case No. 07-bk-8495, Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.

posted by Jonathan Alper, bankruptcy and asset protection attorney, Orlando, Florida