How many cars can we have in a 13?

[sheilaE]

I have yet another question. We had 2 vehicles that are paid off. One had more then $1400.00 worth of repairs last year, the other is a 2003 that runs fine. We recently purchased a third vehicle prior to going into our upcoming chapter 13. We have 3 drivers in our household. My daughter uses one to get to Jr college, I use one to pick up our other 2 children from 2 different schools and my husband uses one to get to work. Should I give/transfer ownership from one of the cars to my daughter? I know this sounds silly, but will we get in trouble for having 3 cars? We are all in 3 different places all day.

[SMinGA]

I don't think it will be a problem - though that may vary by district?

I could see it being a problem if you were trying to legitimize having loans on 3 vehicles, or if your equity combined in 3 vehicles was over your vehicle exemption amount. But neither of those seems to be the situation.

Do NOT transfer one to your daughter. That could create a problem where one does not already exist. (Transferring property = hiding assets = bad idea.)

[sheilaE]

Yikes-thanks SMinGA!

[Billssuck]

We had four cars when we filed and had three drivers. The only thing that was an issue with the cars for us was the non-exempt portion of the value of the cars and it is one of the reasons why we filed ch13. BTW all four cars were paid off and one of them was a tool of my trade so hence needing four cars.

[justdeb]

our vehicle exemption was $2K allowed for 2 vehicles - and that was it. Anything over that amount, we had to pay into the trustee to keep the cars or...relinquish the vehicles to the trustee for payment to creditors (Ch. 13). They are our only real assets. We have 3 cars (1 with a note) and an RV.

Sheila - I answered your question re: this that you asked me in Nomad's thread the other day

[sheilaE]

Hi, what do you mean by non exempt portion of the value of the cars? Did they want you to surrender one to them being that they were paid off? 2 of our are paid off. Can't imagine giving one up-we all go in different directions every day.

[sheilaE]

Thank you justdeb. My mind is going a mile a minute. I know I'm repeating myself all over this forum, lol. I really appreciate everyone helping me out with their excellent advice. This site has such a wonderful support system!

[justdeb]

according to BK laws, you either get to use your state exemptions or federal exemptions (depends on your state and what they require you to do).

Our state (VA) allows you $2K exemption on 2 vehicles, so we were allowed $4K in exemptions on the value of our vehicles. Our vehicles were valued at over 40K - so they took 4K off, and we must pay into our Ch. 13 plan, $36K to our creditors, as that is our assets (our vehicle values). If we wanted to keep our vehicles and rv, thats what had to be done since we owned them outright, or turn them over to the trustee to sell - or we could sell them outright and pay it into our plan, to our creditors.

[NeedOptions]

We have a car that is scheduled to be paid off in 3 months. Does it matter when we file for ch. 13? Would it be more beneficial to file before the car is paid off or after? Logic tells me that if I file before it's paid off, I can use that amount ($775) as part of my expenses. If I file after it's paid off, will that be counted as an asset and because of that, my ch. 13 payments to the trustee may go higher? Lastly, if I filed after the car is paid off, it would show that we had more disposable income so we would have to pay more.

[momofthree]

We own 3 cars and a motorcycle, only 1 of them has a loan against it. Due to CA having a high wildcard exemption, we were able to exempt & keep them all.

[sheilaE]

Yeah! We're in CA as well.

[NeedOptions]

Let me see if I have this right. Can I trade in my wifes car (which will have around 17k in equity) for a new car right before we file? Will the equity in the new car some how be bad for us if we file ch. 13? Or, would it be beneficial to trade the car in, let's say on a 45k car and owe 28k so we can make payments while we are in BK?