Bankruptcy and proposals
Sell a house in bankruptcy or before a proposal
In shortWhen bankruptcy or a consumer proposal is in view, the licensed insolvency trustee has to be in the conversation before a house is sold. A private decision to list it does not replace the trustee. This is general information, not insolvency advice.
A house is often the largest thing a person owns when they talk to a licensed insolvency trustee. Bankruptcy and a consumer proposal are federal procedures under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. They are not something a buyer administers. This page says, in general terms, where a direct sale fits, and where it does not. It is not insolvency advice.
The trustee, not the buyer, holds the file
When a bankruptcy begins, the person’s property vests in the licensed insolvency trustee, subject to the exemptions the law actually gives. In Quebec those exemptions are specific. Do not assume the family house is protected the way a homestead is described in another province. The trustee looks at the house, the hypothec and any equity with the creditors’ interest in view. You cannot sell the house out from under an open bankruptcy. The trustee is the one who can.
A consumer proposal is a different path. You stay out of bankruptcy if the proposal is accepted, and a secured creditor — the hypothecary lender — is dealt with on its own terms. People sometimes keep the house because the proposal and the lender both allow it. Sometimes they do not. A website cannot tell you which. The trustee is the professional who files the proposal. Bruce is not a trustee and this site does not offer that service.
A sale before anyone files
People ask about selling first, then talking to a trustee. A sale for fair value, with the hypothec paid, can be a clean way to turn a house into a number the trustee can see. A sale to a relative for a low price, or a transfer meant to keep the house away from creditors, is a different thing. Trustees can ask a court to look at transfers at undervalue and preferences. This page will not explain how to move a house into someone else’s name. If that is the plan, stop and call a trustee instead of a buyer.
If you do want a direct sale while you are only thinking about a filing, say that when you send the address. Bruce can talk about buying as-is, with no inspection and no commission, on a date you choose. He cannot tell you whether selling is wise in your file. Get that answer from the trustee before you sign a deed. A deed signed to get ahead of a filing is exactly the deed a trustee may review.
If a filing is already open
Send the trustee the fact that you have talked to a buyer. Do not sign Bruce’s paperwork, and do not sign a notarial deed, unless the trustee has said the sale can happen and how the money is to be paid. The notary will ask whose authority is being used. “The owner wants to sell” is not authority once the property has vested in the trustee. The home-page form is still only a conversation. It does not move title.
Questions people ask
Seller questions
Keep reading
- Behind on the mortgage in MontrealSixty days, a cash sale that pays the creditor if the numbers work, and no promise to assume the loan.
- Sell a house during a divorce or separationShowings are a poor way to leave a shared house. Consent and the notary still decide who can sign.
- Sell without an agent, or sell directlyA broker markets the house. A sale without a broker still finds a buyer. A direct sale means the buyer is Bruce.
- Sell my house fast in Dollard-des-OrmeauxAn independent city of bungalows and split-levels, with its own 2026 transfer-duty brackets.
This is general information about how a sale usually works in Quebec. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not a promise about your price or your date. A notary — and, if your file needs it, a lawyer or a licensed insolvency trustee — applies the rules to your situation. Sending an address does not commit you to sell.