Just came back from 341

[santadawg]

Well, I don't know what to say. The trustee was very nice. Asked a lot of questions, from How did you get in this mess, to what do you have in the bank right now. It lasted about 10-15 minutes. Everybody there was asked the same questions. It was all going smooth till the Trustee ask about our house value. When we first talked to the Lawyer I said 270-280, but he said that was high because of the times were in. So I said well how about 250, he said ok. I told him I wasn't really sure, but he said he would have it appraised. it came in at 285. But he left it at 250 and exempted 36 and I owe 237. Now the Trustee is looking at taking out 2008 tax return that was exempt (5000). Also he sent he assistant, he didn't even go. He continued it, till he see's the appraiser's value of our home. What a mess I'm so- c@#&%% right now. it was a simple no asset case

[Mi Bankruptcy]

I am sorry to hear about your 341. My attorney also sent a different attorney from their firm. I expected them and told my wife so she didn't freak out. When asked about my home I told them I looked at the current market online and the size of my house( SQft, bedrooms, bath, etc). She accepted that as being O.K. I exempted our return and they didn't say a word about it. Is the court responsible for the appraisal.. Make sure you point out everything wrong with the place to the appraiser and how much bigger other places appear in you neighborhood..

[ansky0007]

Lawyer should have brought the appraisal to the meeting... It happens... My lawyer has not been any better. Even at $285k, and you owing $237k thats only $48k equity.. You said the Exemption is $36k which leaves only $12k in equity. It would cost the trustee around 10% to sell it which would be $28,500 so essentially there is nothing left if they sell it.

[santadawg]

Thanks MI, at this point the Trustee is waiting for the Lawyer to send him the appraised value of my house. The Trustee said it was no big deal, just lawyer talk. But I don't trust him. The lawyer use the federal exemptions. We didn't even have that musch to exempt. -------------

[santadawg]

ANSKY0007, I hope your right-------------

[santadawg]

This is what was said in an e-mail about our appraisal--
He wrote---------Exemptions is our word for protecting assets. The Broker Price Opinion came in for your home at $385,000, attached, which is $35,000 higher than your $350,000 opinion.

You still should testify on your belief of your home's value, whether the $350,000 as originally stated or to any value you choose after viewing the BPO - which is not binding on your testimony.

We've moved some unnecessary, overprotections of the "wild card" over to your home to protect the additional $35,000 of possible equity based on the new BPO. Your tax refund remains safe.

I wrote-----That's fine. Do what you think is right. We were not sure what the value was. We guessed at 250,000 because we were waiting for the brokers price. We first thought it was around 270 or 280, but even you said the prices of houses have gone way down. But you stated below our opinion was 350,000. I still believe it's worth 270 or 280, even more so in these times. I think your broker is way off base, especially in today's housing market. That's just my opinion.

He wrote---Sorry, too much eggnog. Broker said 285k, not 385k, and you had said 250k not 350k.

Your 270k - 280k is consistent with the broker's 285k.

[santadawg]

Lawyer assistant called, said he wants us to come in next week to go over our exemptions again. I think---- he now wants to use the state exemptions instead of the federals. We have about 47K in equity in our house. Also were are trying to exempt our Tax refund (5K) & my daughters car with about 2500.

Anyone have any ideas what we can do-----thanks

[AngelinaCatHub]

One of the great things about using a lawyer, bad one or good one, is they are paid to take the blame. Your complete honesty to the Trustee is utmost important. He too is a lawyer and probably knows your lawyer personally. He has to do his job, but he wants to discharge you more than dismiss you. You must believe that. They soon will have more work than they can handle and will start to become much more lenient to push them through. ‘Hub

[santadawg]

Thanks Hub, I hope your right---

[SVBroke]

I think that I would argue with the BPO. A BPO is a Broker's opinion of value and NOT an appraisal. A BPO can be higher than what an appraiser would value your property at. I know money is probably tight already, but I would talk to your lawyer about getting an actual appraisal by a Certified Residential Appraiser. The lawyer should probably be the one to engage the appraiser. Due to the tough economic conditions, you could probably get a reasonable cost for an appaisal (say $200-$300 range, or even less depending on where you live). This would be cheaper than handing over the tax return and the appraisal should be given more weight than a BPO.

Good luck!

[Woah]

I have to agree, get a real appraisal from a certified appraiser. Its a lot more credible than a BPO. It will give you a real idea of the value of your home and give you and the trustee a lot more information to work with.

Home values in our area are changing rapidly. Not too many places are immune right now due to a lack of sales activity. The few closed sales are mostly distress situations or foreclosures and that drives appraised values down. Appraisers use closed sales and this could help your situation.

jmho

[santadawg]

Thanks, I will mention this at our meeting next week