Question about Ch. 7 BK Exemptions

[InDebtNeedHelp]

1. Will someone come to my house to verify what I record as an exemption? Do they randomly audit some people?

2. Let's say I record a used dining room table with a replacement value of $300. Will they want any sort of proof of original purchase price or how I determined the replacement value?

Thanks!!!

[keepmine]

They are supposedto audit 1 in every 250 filers.
Nobody will come to your house unless there is some suspicion of fraud or not listing things like valuable artwork.
List your stuff at garage sale prices. Nobody cares what you paid fo it. Nobody wants used consumer products. Your trustee didn't become a lawyer just to run a "Sanford and Son" operation.

[InDebtNeedHelp]

According to the NOLO book, garage sale prices are no longer valid. You must use replacement values from eBay, thrift stores, etc.

They are supposedto audit 1 in every 250 filers.
Nobody will come to your house unless there is some suspicion of fraud or not listing things like valuable artwork.
List your stuff at garage sale prices. Nobody cares what you paid fo it. Nobody wants used consumer products. Your trustee didn't become a lawyer just to run a "Sanford and Son" operation.

[jadams]

Except for some really rare circumstance, no one will come to your house.

People are selected for random audits. I'm sure someone here that did one could chime in with more details about how that worked.

I've read that the average family has only $2-4,000 in value of household goods (including furniture, clothing, tv, appliances, etc.).

Unless you have very nice furniture, your dining room table is probably over valued at $300. You aren't looking at what you could potentially get if you worked hard to sell it -- you want the liquidation value (i.e. moving and everything not sold by the end of the week gets trashed). What do you think you could get if you put in on the front lawn or put it in the classifieds?

Most people seem to use Craigslist, eBay, or something like the Salvation Army Valuation Guide.

Be prepared to explain and provide some support (eBay listings, Salvation Army printout, etc.) if asked, but you won't be quizzed on each and every item.

[justplaintired]

I personally think that you have to have given the trustee some reason to suspected you might be lying about something. So, I think personally, just list you items for what you would pay for them if you went to a garage sale and were to buy them there. We were told by our attorney to price them that way.

I like the salvation army site, very interesting and pricing is similar to a yard sale price.

I wouldn't get to worried about you exemptions, if you have an attorney they can help with pricing, if you are too low, they will tell you, same if you are too high.

[InDebtNeedHelp]

Thank you, both. The Valuation Guide is excellent! Perfect.

[GWBcasualty]

Thank you, both. The Valuation Guide is excellent! Perfect.

I saw on PACER several filings prepared by lawyers (which, according to the filed documents, were paid $2k to $3k) where the majority of the assets to be exempted were grouped under a summarized header and a total value.

One example:

Furniture
- Usual and customary $600
Books, etc..
- Usual and customary $100
Apparel
- Usual and customary $200

And so on... you got the idea. Apparently that was just fine with the trustee.
(California)

[FloridaFiler]

[InDebtNeedHelp]

Garage sale prices are no longer valid:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=10118