Hey Debtors-

Today is Friday as I write this on the Fail to Succeed blog. We're talking about what happens to a realtor's license in a bankruptcy case, as well as some of the other things to think about that apply not just to realtors but other professionals as well.

Podcast Contents:

• 0:05 - Introduction ?
• 0:45 - Our topic of the day
• 6:28 - It's a wrap

Realtors in bankruptcy

You may never have heard this, but there are some parts of the bankruptcy law that actually say you can't be discriminated against just because you filed for bankruptcy.

Now those laws aren't, you know, really comparable to the anti-discrimination laws over someone's race, gender, or religious background, but they do apply in bankruptcy to some situations.

One is government licenses. In today's post, I talk about an answer I gave on Avvo to someone who said this:

If I file for bankruptcy (Chapter 7) would it affect my NMLS license in real estate and are there any disclosure requirements with regards to renewal, to my broker, etc.? 

So here, I think what the original poster meant was, "can I keep my license to sell real estate here in Los Angeles?"

The other attorneys were largely correct to say, "yes, probably" and I just weighed in with a few additional points to consider since the person asking was a realtor.

First, realtors are one of my heroes. They're out there grinding, living on commissions. Many of us dream of doing it; few follow through.

Second, realtors have unique bankruptcy needs. Their debts are possibly different, and the might have open contracts that become part of the bankruptcy estate.

Finally, they have the opportunity to pick and choose among the contracts they're under and which ones they want to assume or reject. This could be useful if they're under a brokerage contract they want to get out of to get a fresh start, for example.