During a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, judgment liens recorded against a debtor’s property may be removed. This is known as lien avoidance. 11 U.S.C. §522(f)(1) provides that, “notwithstanding any waiver of exemptions, but subject to paragraph (3), the debtor may avoid the fixing of a lien on an interest of the debtor in property to the extent that such lien impairs an exemption to which the debtor would have been entitled under, subsection (b) of this section, if such lien is a judicial lien.” In other words, a judgment lien on a piece of property can be avoided if the lien would result in a loss of some or all of the exempt equity if the property were sold.
