Personal Residence in Bankruptcy and CRA
We are considering filing, have had an initial meeting with a trustee but are more confused now than before. We have 50,000.00 in unsecured debt (Credit Cards). We owe CRA approximately 33,000.00. A private mtge of 85,000.00. Property was purchased for 100,000.00 a year ago and tax bill assessment is 81,000.00. A company assessed it at 96,000.00 when we bought. Trustee says there is no value in property. Other assets are minimal, (vehicles, personal household, RRSPs are all worth less than 6,000.00 total and according to trustee are of no interest to them.
Recently CRA registered a Certificate in Federal court for 15,000.00 of the amount owed. Is this registered against our property? Can they force a sale? Can we file and keep our house?
To find out if the certificate is registered against your property, contact a lawyer and ask them to do a lien search on your property. If it is registered against your property, CRA could force a sale, although given the amount owing on the mortgage that is highly unlikely. You could go bankrupt and keep your house, but if there is a charge registered by CRA it will not go away in a bankruptcy, so it may not make financial sense to keep the house if you go bankrupt.