Advise Please!!!

[avega]

This forum is awesome.. Im glad I found it...hopefully someone can give me some advice if they have been through it themselves..

To sum it up, I made alot of money the last few years, and then my company folded after 6 months of superslow business...I used my savings to supplement my income over that time. A month after the company closed, my wife and I had our son , but no ins. , then I was rear ended causing serious damage to my new car(I got rid of an expensive one for a cheaper one to lower payments) and my back , then a month later, my 2 1/2 yr. old was diagnosed with Juvinile Diabetes , but we have it under control now ... oh yeah, were in forclosure too...sale date for the end of this month..

So...I am doing a pro se Ch. 7, and so far so good...just a few things I wasnt sure about..
1) My new car has frame damage and tons of miles, and super upside down due to the accident. Can I go now before I file and get another one(if I can finance) and include the one I have now in the bk? Im in FL., so there is no public transportation..but how would the trustee look at such a move?

2) What are you allowed to take from the house when your surrendering it? Im taking my appliances and chandelier, and maybe blinds. What is considered personal property vs. secured property? Obviously taking the cabinets would be a no-no, and just wrong..

3) I am filing now to avoid having to vacate the home this month, and get this behind me, but I will probably get my W2's early Feb., will they make me file and take my refund, or will they accept that I dont file until April, which the bk should be discharged well before then, and leave my refund alone?


Thanks for the info anyone can supply.. Happy New Years!!

[SinkingFast]

Whether you file taxes before or after filing BK, the Trustee may be interested in your refund. Spring and fall are the 2 prime times of the year that Trustees go after income tax refunds. Spring, obviously because it's tax filing time and people typically don't have enough Exemptions to cover the $$$'s in cash. Fall, Trustees will hold off closing a BK to wait to take a pro-rated portion of the income tax refund.

About items from your house,.......... I'd kinda work off what's typical if you were selling the house. If people generally leave the fridge behind, then leave it. If you bought a new house and all the kitchen appliances were part of the mortgage, leave them. Don't take any built-in's. Like a wall unit oven, an in-counter cooktop, or an under counter dishwasher.

Light fixtures are questionable. If you have a substitute lighting unit you could put up when you take down the chandalier, I might do that. But to take down the fixture and leave bare wires hanging out of the ceiling,........ I don't think that would be appropriate.

If you were filing with an attny, you could discuss doing a 722 Redemption Loan with the attny. The attny would have to agree it's in your best interest and the Trustee would have to approve it. Since you're going Pro-Se, this is probably something you'll need to run by the Trustee. You're basically replacing one car payment with another so that part shouldn't be a problem. The question will be "Can you afford the car payment?" Do you have enough monthly income to pay the payments.

With some 722 Redemption Lenders, you don't get to shop for the car of your choice. You have to choose from among cars available thru the 722 Redemption Lender. Depending on which 722 Lender you work with will decide how you go about purchasing a replacement vehicle.

[spongenotbob]

1) My new car has frame damage and tons of miles, and super upside down due to the accident. Can I go now before I file and get another one(if I can finance) and include the one I have now in the bk? Im in FL., so there is no public transportation..but how would the trustee look at such a move?

Hi Avega,

You have a legitimate personal injury claim against the guy who hit you. Have you started that process? The reason this is important -- that lawsuit (the PI claim) is part of your BK estate, and your trustee will want it.

Your case is not that simple. I would strongly recommend you meet with two lawyers: [1] BK, and [2] Personal Injury.

Sorry you're going through all this. It will get better.

PS: You'll almost certainly not need to leave your house and forget about the chandeliers, etc... =) Talk to some good lawyers, read some books (Nolo's BK books are excellent), and read this site. It's not that bad.

Very best of luck to you and your family,
spongenotbob

[avega]

The accident was in May and I already received a settlement in the case. I wasnt about to let that go.. It wasnt much because I wanted to get it settled quickly. I recieved about $7K, and am going to use that to move since we are in a situation where I dont know how Im going to pay for an apartment. I have 2 cars Im keeping, one that my father cosigned for, and I dont want him to get screwed which my wife uses for all those dr. appts. the other is mine. Since I am in Fl. can I use my wild card or use Federal exemptions to protect that cash? Thanks!!