confused on Florida exemption on vehicles

[JayJay]

I've been googling to see if I could get a straight answer but I can't.

I've been reading that the Florida bankruptcy exemption on cars is "up to $1,000". I don't understand this.

If my car was worth $1,001, it would get taken away?

If it is worth $500, then they wouldn't?


I have a buyer that wants to buy my car so I stop making payments on it. With the money I'll have left over after paying off the loan, I want to buy a cheap car worth about $2000 and not worry about payments.

[jeb]

Jay, as I understand it, you may exempt up to $1000.00 in equity in vehicles. If you have a car that has a KBB value of 10,000 and you only owe $5,000 on it the trustee could take the car, sell it, give you 1 grand and use the rest to pay your creditors.

If you go pay cash for a car that is worth more than 1,000 they can take it.

HOWEVER, in reality, used cars sold at auction don't bring the KBB value so unless you have enough equity to make it worth the trustee taking it, they won't. Doesn't mean they can't, however - up to the trustee. - jb

[Beeheery]

Hi Jeb,
But in FL if we do not own a home, don't we get an extra 4k towards total personal property which could include a car?

[JayJay]

Jay, as I understand it, you may exempt up to $1000.00 in equity in vehicles. If you have a car that has a KBB value of 10,000 and you only owe $5,000 on it the trustee could take the car, sell it, give you 1 grand and use the rest to pay your creditors.

If you go pay cash for a car that is worth more than 1,000 they can take it.

HOWEVER, in reality, used cars sold at auction don't bring the KBB value so unless you have enough equity to make it worth the trustee taking it, they won't. Doesn't mean they can't, however - up to the trustee. - jb

Would this apply to a car I'm making payment on right now? It has equity of about $1000 when using KBB but I'm sure they'd have a hard time trying to get money for it since it's a sports car and people are looking for economy cars.

[justbroke]

Would this apply to a car I'm making payment on right now? It has equity of about $1000 when using KBB but I'm sure they'd have a hard time trying to get money for it since it's a sports car and people are looking for economy cars.

If you only have $1,000 in equity, the exemption covers it (F.S. 222.25).

[AMISLANDER]

I've been googling to see if I could get a straight answer but I can't.

I've been reading that the Florida bankruptcy exemption on cars is "up to $1,000". I don't understand this.

If my car was worth $1,001, it would get taken away?

If it is worth $500, then they wouldn't?


I have a buyer that wants to buy my car so I stop making payments on it. With the money I'll have left over after paying off the loan, I want to buy a cheap car worth about $2000 and not worry about payments.

If you buy a car worth $2K, and it's paid for, they will ask you to pay $1K to keep it. I've been through this with my SUV. It was KBB'd between $7,500 & $10K. I owned it outright but parent had a lien on it...It became a freaking nightmare...I ended up getting documentation to prove the SUV wasn't worth what it really was due to major repairs necessary, i.e $3,500 to repair catalytic converters (Toyota price)...brakes, you name it....trustee ended up splitting with me & I paid $1,500 to keep a vehicle I already owned....they won't take your home if you own it, but they will take your car....good luck...

[jeb]

The answer is "yes", if you don't have a home - or don't use the homestead exemption in FL - you get an extra $4000.00 to use for other things - including your car. - jb