Technically, his parents should be listed as creditors and that you are reaffirming the loan on the house. I guess I would have to ask if there are loan documents or was this one of those, "our names stay on the deed until you pay us back, etc" deals. Your attorney should be able to spell out the finer points needed for the trustee.

Yes it was one of those deals, for us to pay off the loan. we actually do not want to tell them about us filing bankruptcy. But I guess there is no way around it? We did write a document and signed it where it says that we agree to make payments on this house. It was made just between us and we signed it. Is this a legal document? What about the other side of our question. Can our names be removed from the house deed and is it legal to do that before the bankruptcy?

When you file a Chapter 7, you will be asked what assets you have. Since your names are on the deed, it is considered an asset. It depends on which state you live in as to what assets you will be allowed to keep. If you live in a homestead state, then you can keep your house. Other states may allow you to retain a certain amount of equity in your home. If your house is worth less than what you owe on it, chances are very good that you will have a no-asset bankruptcy and the home will ultimately be excluded from the court judgment. The courts may consider the quit claiming of your property as an attempt to hide assets and may disallow your bankruptcy. If you own your home as tenants in common, then payment on the loan for the house will fall back on the other owners. As long as the loan company gets their money, they will probably not take any actions against the other owners. Alternatively, if you have a sizable amount of equity, the trustee may force a sale of the property to extract your share of the equity and pay off your creditors. There is some protection if you own the property as tenants in common with rights of survivorship.