Keeping two cars

[aprilmyriad]

Does anyone know how difficult it is to keep two cars in a chapter 7? My husband is a delivery driver so he cannot work without a car, and I also need a car to get to and from work. Our cars are both about 8 years old and blue book value is around $3000 each. They are both paid off.

We live in California, and because we own our mobile home outright (value approx $18,000) we didn't want to go with option 2 that has the wildcard exemption. So is there a chance we can give them some money in order to keep the 2nd car, and if so, will they take payments since obviously we can't keep $3000 cash in our account to pay for it?

[tcreegan]

Calif cars

Hello aprilmyriad,

Calif. system 1 allows $2,550 per vehicle. That is doubled when filing jointly, so up to $5,100 of vehicle equity. You can also try to get hubby's vehicle as a "tool of the trade" where the exemption is $4,850 for a commercial vehicle.

If you are close to the exemption limit, get a written appraisal from a local dealer, NOT for trade-in value, but what you could sell the vehicles to him/her. Or check KellyBlueBook for private sale values given the condition of the vehicles. Key is to have documentation for the vehicle values.

Odds are very good for keeping two vehicles when filing jointly, esp. used cars.

Good luck!

Tom in Colo