Can I sell or buy property while in chapter 13?

Although permission from the Court is needed to buy or sell property, it’s generally not difficult if the purchase or sale is reasonable, even if it means needing to reduce the Chapter 13 plan payment. Many of our Chapter 13 clients have had to buy vehicles or sell houses while in Chapter 13. To accomplish this we need information about the property to be sold or purchased, such as price, what type of property (e.g. make and model of vehicle or legal description of house) and the terms of the sale or purchase (e.g. monthly payment, interest rate, name and address of lender). If there’s an offer to purchase or loan documents, we’ll need copies to provide the trustee. The approval process generally takes 30-45 days so nothing can happen immediately but there are rarely objections to these types of requests. If the purchase of property will require a change in the plan payment we’ll also need to file a motion to modify the Chapter 13 plan.