Under the state law here concerning bankruptcy. you are entitled to keep one car of a reasonable value. There are three of us who need the use of a car, and we all go in different directions. Getting by on two is hard enough, getting by on one would be impossible. There is no public transportation to speak of. The car my wife and I share is almost paid off. That is the one I would choose to keep. It has a few thousand equity. The car my son uses is newer, but has no equity. Is there any chance they would allow us to keep the second car since it has no equity? Or, would it be possible for him to buy it at fair market value which is basically what we owe? I think his credit is good enough now to get his own financing. When we bought it, he was too young to get it financed, but he has established credit since then. And, he put $4000 up for the down payment. But the title is in only the name of my wife and me. How would his equity be treated? We can prove it if necessary.
What state? I don't think you're reading that right. Every state I'm aware of allows one car per spouse. You can't keep even ONE car if the equity in the car exceeds the exemption amount. In that case, the Trustee will sell it and give you the exemption amount. You can sell a car to anyone prior to BK if you sell it for fair market value, so you could certainly sell one to your son. The court will look closely at this transaction if you sell to a family member (to make sure that you aren't trying to get away with something), so be very careful to establish that the sale price was a fair market price (use www.kbb.com - kelly blue book, get ads from papers, etc.).
slimeball - when I did the chap 13 in 1996 - I have 36 more months to go on a 1995 Maxima. There is no issue - if you do the Chap 13, an attorney will fix these details. You will not lose property - as long as you make the court approved payments. The payments can be high - but in my case, I was lucky - I ended up making a good amount of money during the internet years. The attorney will be rolled into the payment - so if you are this concerned - call one. Get ity on and get it donw and start out 2003 with no worries. aarrff - dogman
