I have a home I am upside down on so can't use Homestead there. I do have motor home that I have always claimed on my taxes for the mortgage deduction on a second home. My question is in a chap 7 in AZ can I use my Homestead on my motor home instead? Has this ever been done?
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I can't see why not. It would probably be considered a 'mobile home' which IIRC are a lesser amount.No Asset 7 closed 11/09 -
I am not sure about AZ law in particular, but it is "possible" to use the homestead exemption on a motorhome IF, and ONLY IF, you actually use the motorhome as your primary residence.
Trustees see right through these schemes, you would need to take steps to actually make your motorhome your primary residence (and no, parking it in your driveway and living it isn't going to cut it).
Generally, you will need to find a place to park it and live in it, change your address, actually move out of your current home in some way (or at least be able to demonstrate you no longer live in your home, etc).Last edited by HHM; 09-13-2009, 04:12 PM.Comment
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To add to HHM's excellent response, you would likely need to produce several utility bills with the 911 address of the MH on them to establish the Homestead status with the Property Appraiser's office.
Most places having Homestead Exemptions usually had a cut-off date of March 31 of the current year to file for the Homestead Exemption for your property taxes. For those that have lived on heir property and homesteaded it for a certain number of years, the exemption renewal is automatic."To go bravely forward is to invite a miracle."
"Worry is the darkroom where negatives are formed."Comment
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Here's a blog from an AZ BK Attorney.Originally posted by ratrodguy View Post
As HHM points out, it has to be the primary residence so you will have to live in it. It also appears you can claim it as your primary residence immediately.No Asset 7 closed 11/09Comment
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We did not try to homestead ours by any means but we did inquire about keeping it. The payment was pretty high and we too were giving up our home.
Our attorney said the courts frown on keeping an RV with a high payment as they also know you have to pay for a place to park it and maintenance which can be higher than the costs for a house.
We just gave it up too.Comment
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you did not state if its paid for or not, or the value. If its paid for, and the value is not that high, and since you stated your home is upside down, you could protect it under the Ariizona wild card, which i'm not sure of the amount. In california we have a $20K or so wild card. Since my house is upside down, and I own outright a large travel trailer, I'm going to use the california system 2 to exempt it.Stopped Paying CC's 2/2009. Retained Attorney 1/10/2010 Filed 1/23/2010. Discharged 5/19/10 $187K CC, $240K 2nd,$417K 1st, No asset Ch-7Comment
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I am keeping the house. The coach is not paid for. I still owe just about 10K than I could get for it on a quick sale, but I have about 30K cash into it.Comment
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Why are you keeping an upside down house?Originally posted by ratrodguy View Post
In any event, as previously stated, you would need to, in good faith, establish residency in the motorhome. Homestead exemptions are very particular in that manner.Comment
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House Reply
We are keeping the house because we have a 22 year old who also must live with us sometimes, and we have two dogs and we are not retired (both work) and we just haven't found a way to make just the motor home work for us much as I want to keep it. I worked all my life for it. I will be 60 in Feb, and spouse is 58. The payment on the coach is only 709 which is less then many people's cars. (Still 14 years of payments though.) We were doing a 13 and just wating about 45 days to file. Means dictated a 13 because we make good money, but then after 9 months of trying to get Indymac (now Sun West) to modify our mortgage and turning us down, we suddenly got a modification agreement in the mail which lowered our payment from 1700 to 1200 for five years at 4.25% then kept it at 5.25 thereafter. Was paying 7.5%. They tacked the missed payments on the end and no fee or penalties of any kind. So suddenly maybe we are looking a 3 years rather than five in 13. However, as of last Friday, it looks like my wife may be getting laid off, so it will have to be a 7 because I only gross 4k a month. Then to complicate it further, that same employer offered to have her do some part time bookeeping through the LLC. We are managers of the LLC not members. The LLC has never made any distributions and wouldn't start now. I think that is a seperate post.Comment
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So do you qualify for a 7 without the coach payment?No Asset 7 closed 11/09Comment
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Without payment
Hadn't stopped to figure that out yet, but probably as AZ allows I think 5800 gross for a couple. Why?Comment
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Just wondering if surrendering the coach would push you back into a 13.No Asset 7 closed 11/09Comment
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One other thing, you may be surprised to find out what your unit is worth.
We had a pristine 39' unit that we paid over $110K for used with less than 15k miles on it. We put $15K into it making it what we wanted.
We surrendered it last October. It took until Feb before B of A got an offer on it and then it was only $47k.
We had hoped it would be our retirement home on wheels so we could travel but we bought it before the market collapsed on housing and could not sell the home. No offers in almost 6 months and we were way under market just trying to dump it.
Oh well.
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