Bankruptcy and property

[NASCAR20FAN]

I've had several meetings with my lawyer, but I'm still a little confused about something. If the trustee decides that some of my property will be sold to pay some of my debt, what is the process? Do they back U-HAUL up to my apartment building or what?

[SinkingFast]

The Trustee can ask you to fork over or pay a settled value amount. Some places, Trustees have a central collection point for smaller items. They tell you what they want, where to drop it off, when, and what date.

Larger things, the Trustee has a company who will come to retrieve those things. Sometimes the Trustee will order an appraiser to come take a look first before he/she decides for sure if the Court wants the stuff.

But, yep, you could have "Two Men and a Truck" back up to your door and haul off your things.

[NASCAR20FAN]

I do own some guns... I guess I can kiss them good bye right?

[FilingOnMyOwn]

I do own some guns... I guess I can kiss them good bye right?

Unless you think you have enough artillery to hold off law enforcement. However you should be able to exempt at least some of it if not all, depending on the value and what is allowed. Or maybe you'll luck out and the trustee won't be interested in them.

[SinkingFast]

[SinkingFast]

That was Old Law too Scammer.

Reference this thread:

http://www.bankruptcyforum.com/showt...&highlight=410

Page 2, post by Scooter about property the Trustee claimed an interest in.

Scooter was directed to deposit said goods at a central location.

Old Law didn't recognize the need for a computer, so those were fair game then. And Scooter also itemized out an old gun, which the Trustee went after as well.

[so-beyond-broke]

Hi Sinkingfast

I have 2 crappy computers 4+ years old. One belongs to the kids they need it to do papers for school. I need mine to do work for school as a teacher. You mentioned in your post that minor children's "educational equipment/material" could be exempted. I am wondering if I can do this because there is a mention of only having one personal computer. Should dependents' belongings even be included in a debtor's filing? After all the dependents or children didn't ask for me to file so why should they be punished by being stripped of their things?

sbb

[SinkingFast]

Hi Sinkingfast

I have 2 crappy computers 4+ years old. One belongs to the kids they need it to do papers for school. I need mine to do work for school as a teacher. You mentioned in your post that minor children's "educational equipment/material" could be exempted. I am wondering if I can do this because there is a mention of only having one personal computer. Should dependents' belongings even be included in a debtor's filing? After all the dependents or children didn't ask for me to file so why should they be punished by being stripped of their things?

sbb

I'm wondering the same thing SBB. We have more than one computer in our home too.

Our son took our old one, and with the help of some friends, they worked on it. Made it much more functional than it was before. It's all original. 8 years old. The kids wiped the hard drive, reformatted, loaded Windows XP, and tweaked some programs to enhance the performance of some of the auxilliary hardware. Son uses that computer for his college school projects.

The Law specifically says, "ONE computer". But that other computer technically isn't the Family computer. It's son's computer. Under Missouri exemptions, dependents get a $350 wild card. Can he use his wildcard to exempt the computer?? I wonder??!!

[NASCAR20FAN]

I'm really not that concerned with myt stuff. I f'd this up and I need to do what I can to make it right. my concern is that if some of my property is seized. Some one comes into my apartment and says hey... I think those shelves tou have are woth some money lets load them on the truck too. How or when will I know what will be taken from me and sold?

[SinkingFast]

The Trustee will decide what get's taken.

Bubbly's Trustee is after her old garden hoe that is held together with duct tape, a crappy hand held power drill, a virus riddled, broken down computer,... There will be a list of specific items.

But,...........

That's if you itemize your household goods.

You don't have to itemize each and every thing in the petition. You don't have to count the pairs of socks and underwear, how many forks, knives, and plates you have. Things like that.

There are some things that are required to be broken out.

Like the "other electronic equipment in the aggregate of $500". Attny's packets ask about CD's, DVD's, CD/DVD players, etc. Because the Law says a TV, a VCR, and a radio are allowed.

Jewelry is listed seperately. I've seen that in petitions on PACER.

I don't mind the Court taking MY things. I'll gladly trade most anything to get rid of thousands of dollars in debt. Like So Beyond, I do care if they take my kids' stuff. Some of their things, they've bought with their own money. Money earned babysitting, house sitting, helping a neighbor. Money given as gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc.

[annikasaunt]

How will anybody know what you actually have? Nobody comes to your house to do an inventory do they? You could let someone borrow the items for a little while couldn't you???! I'm not trying to be dishonest, but I've worked hard for what I do have. It's not alot of glitz and glamour but I like my things.

[SinkingFast]

I asked one attny's para-legal if the Trustee would come to our house to check our things. I was worried the Trustee would come on a day when the house is a wreck. Almost always the case with 3 teenagers in and out. The para-legal said Trustees never go to people's houses. They order someone else to do it. Doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Especially if the Trustee thinks they smell Fraud.

[so-beyond-broke]

Hey Sinkingfast:

What would constitute fraud? What would raise a flag that they would need someone to actually come to your home? If they do send someone, it would have to be at a mutual time. After all what if you work all day? Do they expect someone to just show up at your doorstep and you're not home? I know that they are not the police (who usu. have warrants to enter your place) but don't they need some type of order to enter your home and count your things? And like another person recently posted, how do they know what you really have? You could place your stuff that you're are afraid of losing into storage or lend it to a friend. Lending is not the same as selling and I don't think it would be considered transfering property either like you would a car or boat. If I lent my neighbor my blender for a while would that be a crime? LOL

sbb

I asked one attny's para-legal if the Trustee would come to our house to check our things. I was worried the Trustee would come on a day when the house is a wreck. Almost always the case with 3 teenagers in and out. The para-legal said Trustees never go to people's houses. They order someone else to do it. Doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Especially if the Trustee thinks they smell Fraud.

[SinkingFast]

Actual cases I've read about where the Trustee ordered the household effects be checked were all "rich" people. People who had much higher level of income than we do and own much fancier stuff than we do. The Trustee wanted to verify conditions, quality, and valuations of assets. An appraiser was sent as well. I don't know if they just showed up with a sheriff and gained entry on their own, or if the time was pre-arranged.

Trustees might be of the mind to do more "checks" with the addition of "random audits" being added to the process. I brought the audits up to one attny and he said it's not a real viable possibility. He said we were as likely to be audited by the BK Court as we were to be audited by the IRS.

We've been audited by the IRS.

It can happen.

Will it happen??

That's the question.

[so-beyond-broke]

Sinking

I have been fortunate so far to never be audited by the IRS - Thank goodness! I am certainly not rich. I live in a NYC housing project and we're in cramped spaces. I earned less than 30K and my significant other has been out of work for 6 months now and his unemployment benefits have run out so I am trying my best to support 2 adults and 3 teenagers. It's certainly not easy. So if the auditor wants to visit us and see what I use to fix broken items in the house with duct tape - my preferred choice (LOL) Bring it on! I will lend my neighbor that cool blender that I just got at the flea market the other day so that the auditor doesn't think I am committing any fraud - LOL

sbb

Actual cases I've read about where the Trustee ordered the household effects be checked were all "rich" people. People who had much higher level of income than we do and own much fancier stuff than we do. The Trustee wanted to verify conditions, quality, and valuations of assets. An appraiser was sent as well. I don't know if they just showed up with a sheriff and gained entry on their own, or if the time was pre-arranged.

Trustees might be of the mind to do more "checks" with the addition of "random audits" being added to the process. I brought the audits up to one attny and he said it's not a real viable possibility. He said we were as likely to be audited by the BK Court as we were to be audited by the IRS.

We've been audited by the IRS.

It can happen.

Will it happen??

That's the question.