Cash Home Buyers for Bankruptcy Properties in San Bernardino County

Bankruptcy cases for San Bernardino County residents are filed in the Riverside Division of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. Filing there triggers the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. Section 362, which halts any foreclosure the lender has started, freezes lawsuits and lien enforcement, and bars any sale of the house until the court says otherwise. For an Inland Empire homeowner who was days from a trustee sale, that pause is often the reason to file.

The pause is not permission to sell. In Chapter 7, the trustee appointed to your case controls any asset that is not protected by an exemption. If your home has equity beyond the homestead exemption, the trustee decides whether and to whom it is sold and must obtain the court's approval under 11 U.S.C. Section 363. If the equity is within the exemption, the trustee normally abandons the house, and a sale still goes through the court. In Chapter 13, you remain in possession under a repayment plan, and selling requires your attorney to file a motion to sell that the Chapter 13 trustee reviews before the court rules.

The practical point is that a bankruptcy sale is a three-party negotiation among the seller, the trustee, and the buyer, with the court as referee. We approach it that way. Our offer goes to your attorney or the trustee, not around them, and we expect to be asked to justify the price.

Many San Bernardino County homeowners in bankruptcy bought during a boom and are still close to the line between equity and negative equity. That makes valuation the center of the case. The trustee has a fiduciary duty to creditors and will not consent to a sale below fair value. Under 11 U.S.C. Section 548 and California's Uniform Voidable Transactions Act at Civil Code Section 3439, a transfer for less than reasonably equivalent value can be unwound long after closing. Neither of us wants that.

So our offer is priced at fair market value and comes with the comparable sales we used, formatted so your attorney can attach it to the motion to sell. If the court permits overbidding at the hearing, our offer serves as the opening bid and we decide at that point whether to go higher. Because we pay cash, there is no appraisal contingency that can undercut the approved price and no lender who can withdraw between the hearing and the closing.

The homestead exemption under Code of Civil Procedure Section 704.730 protects a baseline amount of equity in a primary residence, scaled to the county's median home price up to a statutory cap and adjusted for inflation each year. In San Bernardino County the figure tracks the county median, which puts it between the statutory floor and the cap. Your attorney can tell you the current number and how much of the proceeds would come back to you in a Chapter 7 sale.

Ask your bankruptcy attorney to contact us, or call and we will reach out to your attorney with your consent. We need the case number, chapter, trustee's name, mortgage balance, and the address. We visit once, and within 24 hours you have a written cash offer at fair value.

In Chapter 7, the trustee reviews the offer and, if acceptable, files the Section 363(b) motion with notice to creditors. In Chapter 13, your attorney files the motion, the Chapter 13 trustee responds, and the plan may be modified to reflect the sale proceeds. Creditors can object, and the court may hold a hearing and allow overbids. That approval process usually runs several weeks; we remain engaged through it and adjust the contract as the court requires.

When the order is entered, escrow closes through a licensed California title company within days. Proceeds are distributed exactly as the order directs: the mortgage lender is paid first, then your exempt amount in Chapter 7, then administrative costs and creditors, or the Chapter 13 plan. Nothing is distributed outside the order.

There are no commissions, and we pay the standard closing costs. We buy the property as-is, which matters in a bankruptcy: the deferred roof, the failing air conditioner that never got replaced through three Inland Empire summers, the unpermitted room addition, the garage full of belongings. None of it has to be fixed or cleared, and the house never goes on the MLS.

If you are behind on the mortgage and have not yet filed, a cash offer gives you and your attorney a number to plan around. Some homeowners sell before filing and avoid bankruptcy altogether; others file to stop a trustee sale and then sell with the court's approval to protect their exemption. We provide the offer either way and let you and your attorney decide.

SHH Holdings LTD dba SHH Buys Homes is headquartered in Upland and buys throughout San Bernardino County, including San Bernardino, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Rialto, Colton, Chino, Redlands, Victorville, and Hesperia. Call (626) 414-4859 or use the form below. We will not contact your trustee, lender, or anyone else about your case without your permission.