After a Sheriff Sale, can a Chapter 13 get my house back? You do not to wait until the last minute to file. Generally, once your house is sold at a sheriff sale, there is no sense filing a chapter 13 to try to save it. The filing of a case will not, in and of itself, set aside or vacate a sheriff's sale held in a regular manner in accordance with the law. Sometimes, and this is rare, the state court may set aside the sheriff's sale if the sale was conducted in an illegal manner, or without proper notice. It is usually very difficult to get a court to set aside the sale. Therefore, once the "hammer falls," you had better start looking for another place to live. This is an important reason not to wait for filing bankruptcy.