What assets did the trustee take in your Ch 7?

[signal]

Just curious for those that filed Ch 7, what assets were actually taken.

[justbroke]

You will find that 90% of cases are no asset cases. This means that absolutely nothing is taken.

In about 33% of the remaining cases, the Trustee abandons their interest in the property. This means that the property that isn't exempt, isn't worth the Trustee's time.

In many of the asset cases, the only asset is a future tax refund. Most attorneys will attempt to exempt this future refund. Some States, like Florida, have so little in exemptions that you usually can't exempt the refund and keep all your furniture. California enjoys the most liberal exemptions, pun intended,

In the other assets cases, debtors who have sufficient funds, are able to negotiate with the Trustee and buy back the asset for pennies on the dollar. This saves the Trustee from paying to have something sold and the Trustee usually can't get fair market value anyhow.

In the remainder of the cases (I'd guess less than 2%), the Trustee takes the asset and then liquidates it at auction or some other sale.

[signal]

I live in Florida, where we have very little exemption for personal property if your keeping your homestead.

I have like a 28 year old upright piano I paid $3500 for (would cost the trustee $350 just to hire a piano mover), an electronic music keyboard, a canoe, a mountain bike, a digital camera (not high end, but slr), a home computer......things like that, i guess worst case I would just buy the stuff back, like you said its pennies on the dollar and alot less hassle.

Wife has an engagement ring, its platinum, 1ct. Not sure if thats something they would be interested in, but 1ct engagement rings are pretty common and so I guess I could buy it back cheap.

[justbroke]

I live in Florida, where we have very little exemption for personal property if your keeping your homestead.

Yes... extremely little! (For those lurking, it's about $2,000 for the wildcard for a married family. That covers all property!)

I have like a 28 year old upright piano I paid $3500 for (would cost the trustee $350 just to hire a piano mover), an electronic music keyboard, a canoe, a mountain bike, a digital camera (not high end, but slr), a home computer......things like that, i guess worst case I would just buy the stuff back, like you said its pennies on the dollar and alot less hassle.

I hope that you used "yard sale" prices when calculating the value of these items. The Trustee may abandon the piano, as those aren't easy to sell and it would cost them to move it! So you may just skate by on that (by calling the Trustee's bluff and telling them to take it).

For your keyboard, that's like $25 unless it's a nice Privia or high-end synthesizer. Canoe... $50... Mountain bike, no more than $70 (at a Pawn Shop), digital camera... $20. Home Computer... $50. Also, I wouldn't itemize these things down to their individual components. I listed my computer, camera, and 88-Key Privia Digital Piano under "Miscellaneous Electronic Equipment". I didn't have a bike at the time, but would have put that under Firearms and Sporting Equipment.

I don't see any issues with squeezing into the $2K limit for a married couple filing together. That is based on your list of items which seem to be the bulk of your expensive assets.

Wife has an engagement ring, its platinum, 1ct. Not sure if thats something they would be interested in, but 1ct engagement rings are pretty common and so I guess I could buy it back cheap.

Are you going to file through an attorney? If so, I don't see any major issues, except for the piano. You "should" be able to squeeze everything into that $2K.

[signal]

I have not calculated prices yet, and yes I am using an attorney, my final "interview" is today, and I will have made a decision by tomorrow which attorney, trying to be very thorough with my interviews.

I also have two firearms, those no doubt they may want, and honestly they can have them, maybe I buy them back, but they are decent arms (Sig P232, and Taurus 38 concealed hammer).

My keyboard is a Kurzweil K2600, so yes its like privia in the sense its got some value, but I guess I can buy that back. Your right pianos are very hard to sell in this economy, they take time, and go for very little when they are 28 years old, upright.

I do plan on working with the attorney to find out what I have to itemize and what I can lump together.

[justbroke]

I also have two firearms, those no doubt they may want, and honestly they can have them, maybe I buy them back, but they are decent arms (Sig P232, and Taurus 38 concealed hammer).

Just don't bring them to the 341 Meeting and pull them out!

My keyboard is a Kurzweil K2600, so yes its like privia in the sense its got some value, but I guess I can buy that back. Your right pianos are very hard to sell in this economy, they take time, and go for very little when they are 28 years old, upright.

Kurzweil is nice! Unfortunately, used, it's worth much more than my Privia on the street. That's an $800 asset right there. It's probably worth more than the upright, in the "immediate" ability to liquidate it.

I do plan on working with the attorney to find out what I have to itemize and what I can lump together.

You are on the right track. Read some more around this BKForum to learn about the process and what others have experienced. Just don't get yourself worked up, anxious, and nervous. The process is very quick and painless for the overhwelming majority of people (9 out of 10).

Please understand that you could sell those assets, the Sig P232 and the Kurzweil in order to pay your attorney. Just get fair market value for them.

[momisery]

You will be shocked! We had some guns that we THOUGHT were valuable. We took them to a pawn shop and they gave us a price we would refuse. lol... We were led to believe the would have real value when we bought them.. but they are worthless if you need to get rid of them. Sort of makes you re-think future purchases and the REAL value..

[frogger]

You would be surprised at just how little mine and your "stuff" is really worth. The value that it is worth is only what it can be sold for. In todays economy, that's little more than zero.

[want2save]

I had to buy back my 2004 Nissan Qwest van and with my $2,150 exemption I paid an additional $4500. My 2002 Mazda Protege 5 I bought back for $3,000. In no case was this pennies on the dollar!!!!!! I let the Trustee take my 1099 Rexhall Motorhome as there was no way I could afford to buy it back. All these vehicles were free and clear. The motor home will be auctioned shortly.

I was discharged in September but my case will not close until all monies have been distributed and the trustee's final reports done.

[justbroke]

I had to buy back my 2004 Nissan Qwest van and with my $2,150 exemption I paid an additional $4500. My 2002 Mazda Protege 5 I bought back for $3,000. In no case was this pennies on the dollar!!!!!!

If you paid full blue-book price, you paid too much. Your attorney didn't negotiate out the Trustee's "costs" for having to sell the property? These are perfectly fine for negotiating the price. Generally you think at 50% and go down from there.

Can't believe your attorney didn't fight for you.

(I'll clarify what I mean by pennies. Anything less than $1.00 is pennies. So it's not one to one. A good attorney should be able to negotiate at least $1K or more off the price of your vehicle... after having already valued it at what it's really worth, and not just going to KBB, BB, Edmunds or the like.)

[want2save]

Hi JustBroke,

The trustee valued the Mazda at $4825 and the Nissan at $7500. I paid $3,000 for the Mazda and $6650 for the Nissan (including the exemption). Blue book was higher than the trustee's value. I did ok but might have done better. Otherwise my lawyer was very good and very responsive. He charged me a flat fee of $1,000 which I think was very reasonable.

[justbroke]

The trustee valued the Mazda at $4825 and the Nissan at $7500. I paid $3,000 for the Mazda and $6650 for the Nissan (including the exemption). Blue book was higher than the trustee's value. I did ok but might have done better. Otherwise my lawyer was very good and very responsive. He charged me a flat fee of $1,000 which I think was very reasonable.

He charged $1K for your whole case? So you save $1,000 or so right there! That would be very reasonable. Some attorneys like to preserve their relationship with the Trustee, so don't get into too many fights. I'm just surprised they wanted to much.

[want2save]

Yes, his entire fee was $1,000 plus I had a $299 filing fee. If I paid too much for the vehicles I made it up on the fee end. I am not dissatisfied. :-)

[justbroke]

Yes, his entire fee was $1,000 plus I had a $299 filing fee. If I paid too much for the vehicles I made it up on the fee end. I am not dissatisfied. :-)

I agree.

[doingpoorly]

In my case I had more than the $2000 in exemptions (FL- married @ $1000 each) I had $2900. I fully expected to have to pay the tt $900 but he didn't even bother with it. I was declared no asset and nothing was ever said about it. I actually think the tt sympathized with us and realized that the extra $900 was really only for our day to day belongings of a family of 6.
You never know the tt may not even care about being over your exemption amount if it isn't a whole lot.