Tag: Tennessee homestead exemption

Tennessee is set to increase homestead exemption in 2021

The Tennessee Legislature is, again, considering debtor-friendly changes to the homestead exemption statute.

The one most likely to pass is House Bill 1185, which seeks to increase Tennessee’s homestead exemption from the existing $5,000 to $35,000 for single homeowners and from $7,500 to $52,500 for jointly owned property.

Before you complain too much about that proposal, consider Senate Bill 566, which provides an unlimited exemption for a judgment debtor’s residential real property (and, after the debtor’s death, it passes to the heirs).

Similar proposals were made in 2019, in 2020, and also in 2012 (and a number of times in between). So far, all such efforts have failed, but I believe this is the year that the Tennessee homestead exemption is increased.

Back in 2019, I talked about the importance of exemptions for debtors, since exemptions can preserve and protect a basic necessity level of assets for debtors (picture the clothes on their back, a few thousand dollars in the bank, a car, tools).

As I wrote in 2019, though, “if this new law passes, the downfallen debtor can keep 100% of the equity in his $750,000 house entirely out of the reach of creditors.” I then said:

Wait a second. Is this law designed to protect downtrodden debtors seeking a fresh start in life (who very probably do not have high value real property at all) or, maybe, is it designed to protect high income individuals whose businesses fail?

Because that’s all this proposed law does. It grants fairly absolute protection to the high value real property owned by judgment debtors in Tennessee, and all the garnishments, levies, liens, and bankruptcies will never touch a penny of that equity.

I feel the same way about these new proposals. If we’re talking about protecting the working poor and preserving the necessities of life from garnishment, let’s start somewhere other than $750k of equity in a mansion. Let’s talk about debt relief measures, eviction support, access to justice, etc.

But, these new laws aren’t about basic necessities of life for poor people. Most poor people don’t live in lien-free mansions. Instead, these new measures are being lobbied for by the construction industry.

These are bad proposals. Unless you’re a debtors with big, lien-free McMansion. Then, sure, it’s a great new law.

Increase in Tennessee Homestead Exemption Fails. For Now.

Last month, the hot topic in the Tennessee creditor rights lawyer world was the rumored increase in the Tennessee homestead exemption.

Well, “rumor” is an understatement. This proposed change had real momentum and had a very strong chance of happening.

As you’d expect, this proposed change completely freaked out the creditor lawyers. I’m on the Tennessee Bar Association’s Creditor’s Practice Executive Committee, and here’s an excerpt of an email I received about it all:

This bill is bizarre. The exemption would go from the current $5,000.00-$25,000.00 to $150,000.00-$750,000.00 – a 3,000% increase!

This proposal should be officially opposed by the TBA. It would have a huge impact on banks’ and businesses’ ability to be repaid their just debts and judgments. Judgment debtors could hide any monetary assets they have in real estate and avoid having to repay what they promised to pay. This bill would legislatively tell debtors they do not have to repay their debts.

This sounds like something which Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might suggest.

This is not a close call. This bill is off the charts bad.

So, yes, the creditor response was pretty clear, and a quick coalition formed involving the Tennessee Banker’s Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, and a handful of other similar groups.

In the end, the House Judiciary Committee deferred the homestead bill until next year. The bill will be moved to the committee’s first calendar of next year. When it comes up then, it will be in the form considered by the Committee in its last consideration, which was in the “flat” amount of $35,000. 

Ultimately, this seems like a fair amendment. Tennessee is pretty squarely in the bottom, with one of the lowest homestead exemptions in the nation.

When it comes up, I hope the sponsors propose an increase that reflects an adjustment for inflation, and not some drastic increase designed to make Tennessee a haven for asset protection. The fatal flaw in this proposed change during this session was that there was no justification or supporting data for an increase to $750,000 or a million dollars, especially when exemptions are designed to provide a “fresh start” to broke judgment debtors. It all seemed arbitrary.

Oh well, stay tuned, and I’ll report back in 2020.

2019 Tennessee Legislature is considering a new homestead that would eliminate a creditor’s ability to collect against residential real property

One of my most common phrases on this site is “Tennessee is a creditor friendly state.” Another is “Always file a Judgment Lien against real property.”

Well, that may change very soon. The Tennessee Legislature is considering a very debtor-friendly increase to the homestead exemption that will make Tennessee, literally, one of the most generous states in the country for debtors.

I’m specifically talking about House Bill 0236 and Senate Bill 0399, which would increase Tennessee’s homestead exemption to as high as $750,000. Except for those states that have an “unlimited” exemption, this would make Tennessee’s homestead the highest in the nation.

The Legislature considered a similar increase in 2012, which I wrote about back then, which didn’t pass.

“Exemptions” allow a debtor to protect certain property from the reach of creditors. Exemptions are designed so that a judgment creditor can’t take everything, so household goods, retirement accounts, and other necessities can be exempted, so that a downfallen debtor can keep the shirt on his back and rebuild his life.

Or, if this new law passes, the downfallen debtor can keep 100% of the equity in his $750,000 house entirely out of the reach of creditors.

Wait a second. Is this law designed to protect downtrodden debtors seeking a fresh start in life (who very probably do not have high value real property at all) or, maybe, is it designed to protect high income individuals whose businesses fail?

Because that’s all this proposed law does. It grants fairly absolute protection to the high value real property owned by judgment debtors in Tennessee, and all the garnishments, levies, liens, and bankruptcies will never touch a penny of that equity.