Campsite

[DaisysMom]

I am considering filing Chapter 7 in Ohio and own a small campsite in a campground jointly with my sister. It is worth about 2K. How will that be treated in the BK. I want to keep it and don't want to involve my sister. BTW, she owns the camper we have sitting on the site, so that is not an issue.

Also, we share the $600 yearly membership fee.

I also own my home with a mortgage that will be exempt and reaffirmed. Those are the only two properties I own.

D...

[justbroke]

You will have to give the Trustee the value of your share of it. If your share is 50% of $2K, then you'd have to pay $1K to the Trustee.

On the other hand, it may not be worth the Trustee's trouble to try to get money out of it anyhow. You would just declare it and your ownership interest in it (50%). The Trustee will either abandon it (wants nothing to do with it), or will ask you to cough up $1K.

[DaisysMom]

Could I possibly use the wildcard exemption amount available to me? In Ohio it is $2025.

D....

[justbroke]

Could I possibly use the wildcard exemption amount available to me? In Ohio it is $2025..

If you're not using the $2,025 for anything else that you need to protect... why not.

[lrprn]

You will have to give the Trustee the value of your share of it. If your share is 50% of $2K, then you'd have to pay $1K to the Trustee.

On the other hand, it may not be worth the Trustee's trouble to try to get money out of it anyhow. You would just declare it and your ownership interest in it (50%). The Trustee will either abandon it (wants nothing to do with it), or will ask you to cough up $1K.

In addition to what JustBroke said about using your OH wild card to protect this property share (if you don't need it to protect something else), keep in mind that $1K isn't a lot for a trustee to go after.

The trustee would have to seize the property, pay a broker to try to sell it in a depressed economy , then split the proceeds of whatever is received (even if it does sell for its current market value)with your sister. That's a lot to go through to just get a $1K return at the most.

When we filed Ch 13, we could not protect our pop-up camper valued at $3K (at that time). We were waiting for our trustee to take it for sale, but we never heard from him. Our lawyer told us that it just wasn't enough value for our trustee to want it - not enough profit in it.

Now there are stingy trustees who would try to make YOU pay the $1K to keep the camping spot. If you can't protect it with an exemption, then it's really up to you (and your lawyer if you are using one) to decide if it's worth the risk to let it ride and see if the trustee actually goes after it.

Your lawyer (if you are using one) is the best person to tell you what to expect in your situation. He/she has dealt with all the trustees in your local court and knows what they are likely to do. Good luck - our family loves to camp too! Hope you get to keep your spot!

[DaisysMom]

Thank you for the replies. That camp site means alot to me. I go there to unwind and even daydream about better times ahead.

D...