Don't understand vehicle exemptions

[sarahj234]

I am looking at filing for BK, live in NV, but am confused about vehicle exemptions. I have a 01 vehicle which is paid off, no loan. Not worth much, maybe $500. I also purchased another vehicle last summer. It is completely financed and I have no equity. I do not drive the 01 car, needs engine work and I haven't had the money to fix it.

Now my confusion comes up when filling in the exemptions on the means test. I think I would claim operating expenses on one vehicle, but ownership in two vehicles? I am lost. If I list both vehicles as an ownership expense will the 01 vehicle be considered non-exempt property? If so, then I could not use the exemption in my caclulations? Since the 07 vehicle has no equity does that even count toward the exemption? I am not behind on the payments for the 07 vehicle and will re-affirm the debt so hopefully I can keep it.

I know I need an attorney, and plan to talk to one in the next few weeks, but this is the only area I am really confused on. Any thoughts?

[lrprn]

Are you planning to file alone? In most bk courts the trustees allow you to use one car for each licensed driver in the family under the auto exemptions. If you are a family of one, then you should use car 02 for the exemptions. Depending on your state's bk exemptions, you may be able to protect car 01 with a wild card exemption. Even if you can't protect car 01, chances are your trustee won't be interested in a non-driveable car worth $500 and won't choose to go after it. (Not enough return for the effort it would take to seize it and sell it.)

Discuss this situation during your 3-4 free initial consultations. It's always a good idea to talk to more than one bk lawyer - that way you can sort out who is going to represent your interests the best. (A hint - it's almost never the cheapest fee lawyer.)