Rodeo, CA Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

You cannot take any preemptive action now that the judgment has already been entered. Once the person (defendant) files the bankruptcy case then you will receive notice and you should contact a bankruptcy lawyer immediately about the possibility of filing a case in bankruptcy court (called an adversary proceeding) to ask the bankruptcy court not to allow the judgment in the state civil court to be discharged. If the person owes you money because of fraud, intentional injury to you or other special reasons (not just a breach of contract or simple negligence) and the state court made that determination in the judgment then you might be able to have the bankruptcy court determine that the amount owed you is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. You have a limited time to file the adversary proceeding in bankruptcy court after you receive notice of the bankruptcy filing. You do not state the reason for the judgment (what the case was about) so it is impossible to tell you whether or not you can contest the dischargeability of the state court judgment.

You are not responsible for the debt, however, if the HOA recorded a lien against the property before your case was filed, that lien will remain attached to the property and must be paid if you sell or refinance the property. Speak with your bankruptcy lawyer to see if there are any grounds to strip the lien. Good luck.

Your income is not too high to file a chapter 7, but in order to file you also must be within your exemption levels on your property and not have filed a previous chapter 7 within the last 8 years.