Exemptions questions...

[HenryHall]

Hi everyone, I'm new here.

I have been in Florida for about 19 months, California before that.
I think I am going to have to file in Florida using California 1 exemptions, but I'm not 100% sure.
I have a Florida house, on a small mortgage, worth perhaps 50,000. My California former residence recently went to short sale.

I read the sticky FAQ post entitled "Residency Restrictions for State Exemptions vs. Federal Exemptions" and it says to review the web page at exemptionsexpress.com SLASH How.html (sorry as a neophyte I'm not allowed to post links)
and there it says things like "If such a "730-day state" exists, select it in column 1 of the table on this site as "the applicable state.""
- but I can't for the life of me find any table or figure out what table it refers to.

Can anyone help me find the table?

thanks,

Henry Hall in Florida

[tobee43]

good morning henry and welcome to the forum.

we came also from another state to file in florida. unfortunately, we left our home (really not so unfortunately) and moved here to florida. we actually waited out the residency requirement to be able to utilize the wildcard exemption, which was 2 years. it was a bit easier for us at the time since we didn't own a home here as yet and we basically went "underground".

now, not that i don't trust "tables" as such...however what i would do is this:

you need to really speak to someone to make certain because of your short sale they don't come after you for any deficiency. while in a few states have laws that protect the borrower to some degree from the deficiency in some circumstances, most notably the western states of alaska, arizona, california, hawaii, minnesota, montana, nevada, new mexico, north dakota, oregon, and washington. the statute that i'm referring to which protect borrowers are often known as “ Anti-Deficiency Statutes". you would need to go over you individual situation and what you are attempt to accomplish here with your filing. and, to make certain your situation is protected under such a statue as it varies in calif. from my understanding.

my suggestion to you is you may have a few choices and one that isn't exactly that simply, you may be able to file calif, federal or florida, depending on many aspects of your case...such as i know they have some tpye of min homestead time element. (by the way check your local ballot since they are working on making the homesteading act very confusing and convoluted, or at least attempting to).

of course i'm not suggesting you do what we did, however, you need to sit down with an excellent atty...and believe me there are tons here we went to 5 FREE consults before we found the "right" firm. i suggest you to the same and see which is the best way for you to go to protect what assets you have.

best of luck to you and i'm certain other member will chime in with some other great suggestions. keep posting there is plenty help here on the forum!

[HenryHall]

Yes, thank you.
I plan to rely on the insolvency exception (report on IRS 982) to gain on short sale.
The same credit card debt that make me insolvent when short sold is what pushes me into bankruptcy.

What I wanted to be clear on is that I can file in Florida using California 1 exemptions if I file perhaps 23 months after leaving California.
The $75k California homestead is enough for my cheap (retirement) Florida house. And the unlimited appliances and furniture will help.

But supposedly that Table that I referred to contains the exact data, and I can't find the table. I suppose the table in Nolo will have to be good enough.

thanks again for the quick response, greatly appreciated.

[ValleYum]

The tables for the states Alabama through Missouri (with 4 columns!!) are here: http://exemptionsexpress.com/Alabama_to_Missouri.html

Talk to a good local BK attorney - they have tons of folks who have moved to Florida from other states and will know how to guide you better than any table. Good luck!

[HenryHall]

>> Talk to a good local BK attorney - they have tons of folks who have moved to Florida from other states and will know how to guide you better than any table. Good luck!

Thank you, I will do that, although I have no means of telling who is a good local attorney and who is bad. I fear paying too much for someone who cares only about billing me.

But I also know I need to do as much of the data collecting as possible first. So the first session does not become "You need to inventory your household goods etc" which I already know and have not yet done.

[tobee43]

i can only relay my personal experience while looking for atty for us as being strangers in a strange land. and, although i have a paralegal background, i'm no fool, (although we will not open that topic up for discussion) , i know when it's smart to incorporate help, not just through the "legal" process, i can do that, mostly the local court and political process, one i'm new too and don't know all the judges myself or the workings of their courts, in this case a good atty's insight is like none other than wearing heavy armor into battle. being born and raised in san fran, all i can tell you, is you now walking a different road LOL!



we paid nothing to have the consult at all and found invaluable information and various views of our case....ranging from a chapter 13 to an asset 7 and finally and what we actually did file was a no-asset chapter 7. while i understood the basics of bk, this is just my personal take on it. how long have you been doing this? what type of relationships to you have with the district trustees...how long have you worked with them. now a good atty will tell, a GREAT one will go down the list like ours did describing each and everyone of our possibilities of whom we were going to get. interesting enough, this was an extremely YOUNG firm, however, i was tired with the loud mouth know it alls, i wanted someone with knowledge and was familiar with our district and just didn't change their shingle due to the increase in the BK filings. these where and always had been ONLY bk attys, although, now i understand they have grown a few more depts.

be diligent and ask the right questions, and expect good thoughtful responses. go to as many consults as you deem necessary to feel as comfortable as one can in a uncomfortable situation before you hire. i would say and i think can, an average for a chapter 7 no asset is approx. $1500 now of course that doesn't include possible AP, or if you case is turned into an asset case, and an entirely different amount for a 13...maybe some will chime in from florida that did successful 13's and their approx. costs. (which i'm certain vary case by case).

you will fine. it's all much in the beginning, you have a good head on your shoulders which is indicated by the questions that you ask, you will do fine.

[HenryHall]

Thanks again.
AP = Asset Protection or AP = Adversary Proceedings?

[tobee43]

Thanks again.
AP = Asset Protection or AP = Adversary Proceedings?

adversary proceedings.