341 Meeting done. Couple of Concerns. Need Advice!

[npvgreg]

I filed Chapter 7. No asset in Minnesota. Had my 341 today. Left with a couple of questions.

1. My wife and I filed jointly. She is listed as owner of a old car antique. The vehicle is a project car, that was given to us shortly before her father passed away. Our attorney listed the car as not running and no value. We never had the money to restore it (doesn't even have a engine) and is all rusted out.

My question is the trustee asked that we bring in a picture of the car to the 341. He looked at the picture and asked where it was stored? We have a 3rd stall and is kept there. He then asked again what the value was, told him really no value couple hundred dollars. He said is gonna have someone look at the picture and see what the value is. He will email our attorney. What is he looking for? Does he think we have 20k to fix it up and we are not telling him? The car is sentimental and was given to us by my wife late father. We don't want to loose it. Can we buy it back if he insists that it has a value?

2. He also said he wants our tax return that we haven't filed yet! (We figure that it might be approx 4k). Wow! A little worried, didn't go smoothly, any advice would be appreciated. Is this normal?

Thanks.

[Pandora]

Hi - welcome to the forums

Yep - all normal for a 341. We filed Ch. 13 but we also have a "project car" and our trustee asked the same questions, albeit before our 341. We provided pictures (its not running at all and in dire need of resto) - Trustee didnt want it - and put a value of $200 I believe (based off of parting it out), which we exempted in our allowances. Your vehicle will have some type of value - its just a matter of what the trustee is looking at/to do. Does it run? Can you drive it? How badly in need of restoration is it? Do you have the parts to restore it? ....etc... Ours for instance- starts..and thats it for the moment - cant drive it, no interior, needs tires, etc Look on Kelly Blue Book, NADA, eBay, Edmonds, etc to try to get prices on similiar vehicles that are in the same shape yours is in - even the Valley Trader or Craigslist - you'll find something As to buying it back - you should be able to, as others have bought back items the trustee wanted.

Tax returns and refunds are normal; some trustee's require your refund and submission of returns every year, while others dont. It appears to be district / state specific.

[npvgreg]

Thanks for your response Pandora. Guess we are just a little nervous. The car doesn't have much monetary value, but has a ton of sentimental value to our family. No engine, doesn't run. Just weird that he asked why do we store it in the garage? Because we have a third stall thats empty was our answer. Can't see why he would want it. If they want it for parts, could we give him our tax return and in return keep the car? Hope we get a response from him soon! Just another quick question regarding vehicle exemptions. We have three cars two with liens, one has some equity all of 2-3k and then the project car. In mn I think we have an exemption of $3400 per vehicle or doubled with joint filing. Do they look at all the equity and add it together? Just wondering how this is gonna play out.

[Pandora]

Everyone's nervous when they file - hang in there, it does get better

Could he want it as a "parts car"? sure... question then becomes how fast can it be unloaded and to whom. As to if you can purchase it using your refund - I dont believe you can because the trustee is already requiring you turn that over, so you will have to work out something as to payment if he/she decides they want the car. I've seen where some trustee's have taken payments for X amount of months, while others require it all upfront for items you cannot exempt yet want to keep.

As to equity and exemptions - here are all the MN exemptions http://www.mn-bankruptcy.com/exempti...E%20EXEMPTIONS

but also note that apparently MN allows you a choice - either MN or Federal exemptions. In either case, you can only claim the exemption for 1 vehicle up to $3450 - but I'm guessing it doubles if filing jointly -

[npvgreg]

Thanks again. We will cross our fingers and toes and hang on a little longer. I will keep you posted. Hope to hear something this week. Had our meeting on 1-31-11.

[MrSmithster]

I think you will be ok on the car, but you will most likely lose any refund to TT. There is/was some good advise on the best times of year to file on this site. My 341 was in June, after I received $2k in tax refunds that Feb., TT never even questioned about it...but my TT never asked for any bank info or statements, just tax returns. What kind of car is this anyway? Now if its an old Corvette, AC Cobra, or Super Bee body, they can go for $10K + and thats in horrible rusted condition with no motor or drivetrain, so I think TT just wants to make sure your not sitting on anything of value.

[MrSmithster]

I think you will be ok on the car, but you will most likely lose any refund to TT. There is/was some good advise on the best times of year to file on this site. My 341 was in June, after I received $2k in tax refunds that Feb., TT never even questioned about it...but my TT never asked for any bank info or statements, just tax returns. What kind of car is this anyway? Now if its an old Corvette, AC Cobra, or Super Bee body, they can go for $10K + and thats in horrible rusted condition with no motor or drivetrain, so I think TT just wants to make sure your not sitting on anything of value.

[npvgreg]

Well guys, we finally heard from the trustee! Very upset with how this has turned out. We are now an asset case! Heres the recap: Trustee sent us a letter which was received today. He is demanding that we turn over our last paycheck at the end of december from the 16th to the 31st--wages due of 1478.25 due immediately! We filed our petition on Dec 31st. How is this possible? Wants the cash within 6 days. Also wants our tax return of $4,000, (which we figured he would want). Also he has valued the old car at $2,500.00, stating comparable value on the internet. Which we are able to buy back. Wow, we are shocked! I called my attorney and am waiting on a response. Any thoughts or ideas??