How does it work buying non-exempt item

[questionsGA]

Hello,
When we file Chapter 7, we want to keep our paid-for pickup. It is worth about $4500-5000 and the exemption is $3500.

I keep reading that a person should have not more than $100, or at least less than $500 when he/she files. So, how would I buy the $1000-$1500 difference? Can I save the money and designate that I want to use it to buy the pickup? Or, do they just mean I buy it by using other exemption money? We will have $20,000 ($10,000 ea.) we can use plus the wild card money since we won't be using the $20,000 home exemption. From what I understand, we can use that exemption money for anything else we own.

Anyway, I don't get the "buying" part when we aren't suppose to have money.

Hope someone can explain. Thanks.

[falken]

In your case, you can claim the extra value of the truck under the wildcard exemption.
The wildcard can be used for cash too, so if you have $20,000 in wildcard available you can do the $1000 for your truck and another $19,000 in cash (if you don't have anything else that needs the exemptions).

[falken]

When you read that you should have under $100 in cash, that depends on your state. If your state has a high wildcard then it is much better.
I had $15k in cash, no problem.

[music12]

i think if there are $20,000 in exemptions, then that's what you can have in the bank. some states have ridiculously small exemptions, and those states are where you can't have more than a couple hundred in the bank. but it looks like, fortunately, your state isn't one of them.

[questionsGA]

Can I use money from selling exempt item

Thank you for your answers.

If I sell my totally exempt and paid-for car for $3500, then can I say that will apply to the $1500 I need to keep the pickup and also apply $1250 of it to keep our rider mower?

And how would that factor into the $20,000 exemption? Since I'm changing $3500 exempt into non-exempt cash, then would they just subtract that from the $20,000 instead of letting us apply it toward non-exempt items?

I know I shouldn't sell the car, but I made the deal before we decided to File. If the Buyer doesn't show up this week, then we'll wait until after discharge. However, if we can apply the $3500 to non-exempt items in addition to the $20,000 exemption, that would be great. We do have several non-exempt items such as tools for my hubby's hobbies, the pickup, the rider-mower, tv worth about $1100, etc.

Thank you.

[StartingOver08]

Just a question - how are you determining your values? The $1250 for a rider lawnmower and $1100 for a TV seem awfully high. Be careful, don't assign a high value to your things, even if they are newer.

Use garage sale values - quick liquidation values.

As to the value of the paid off truck, find out which valuation method your Trustee requires (here it is NADA Retail). If the value is not reflective of actual market value, get an independant appraisal of the vehicle. Most of the valuation models (KBB and NADA etc) are too high now to reflect the actual market.

[questionsGA]

--------------------------
I came up with the truck value from kbb.com. I came up with the value of the zero-rider mower, because we recently purchased used for the price of $1250, and the tv was purchased new for $1300 and is a recent model. I guess we can substantially reduce the value of each of those since the tv is no longer new and rider mowers go for all kinds of much lower prices.

[music12]

once you sell the car for cash, that cash is non-exempt, period. if you end up with $23,500, then $3,500 is not exempt.

maybe find a way to cancel the deal with this buyer.

[falken]

--------------------------
I came up with the truck value from kbb.com. I came up with the value of the zero-rider mower, because we recently purchased used for the price of $1250, and the tv was purchased new for $1300 and is a recent model. I guess we can substantially reduce the value of each of those since the tv is no longer new and rider mowers go for all kinds of much lower prices.

Is the TV a LCD or plasma? If not, it has no value ($100 or so).
It would need to be 6 months old and 60" plasma to have a $1100 value. I got a 50" refurbished plasma for $750 including a wall mount.

[questionsGA]

The tv is a 46" LCD less than 6 months old.

[falken]

The tv is a 46" LCD less than 6 months old.

I just found a 47" 1080p LCD new for $600 online. Knock off acouple hundred for being used, I would say $400.

[questionsGA]

Thanks ... very helpful.

[LuciluS]

OP: Your home state is GA? If so, 'googled' GA Bankruptcy Exemptions. Think you better take a look at this website:

http://www.bankruptcyinformation.com/GA_exemp.htm

The first sentence:

Federal supplemental exemptions can be used in conjunction with your Georgia exemptions and can be viewed here.

You are able to click on the underlined words in the above sentence for the supplemental exemptions.

Luci

[questionsGA]

Regarding Fed. Exempt. vrs. State (GA) Exempt.

Thank you for your post. It certainly does say Federal at that link you provided. However, I found several other sites that specifically say Georgia uses their own exemptions ... not Federal. Here is a quote from an Atlanta attorney (I didn't link to him since that isn't permissable.):

Exemption law is Georgia law not federal law.
First of all, you might be interested to know that the law controlling
exactly what property you can exempt from bankruptcy is Georgia state
law, rather than federal law. Even though your bankruptcy case will be
filed in federal court, the Bankruptcy Code permits Georgia and the other
states to set their own rules for exempt property.

Thanks for your help.

[bk2009]

If you put the lawnmower out during a yard sale, what's the best you could get for it that day? I'd say probably about $300-500. People are cheap at yard sales. ;) I had an elliptical that I tried selling a few years back at a yard sale. I had it marked at $150. People offered $25 and $50. I later sold it via Craigslist for $150. But, it took about 5 more months to sell. So, yes, you might be able to get more for the mower, but if you had to get cash tomorrow for it, what could you get?