Old home...will repair estimates assist?

[loonzilla]

I live in a 53 year old house and certain items are catching up to me:

1. 20 year old roof
2. 17 year old heating system
3. 18 year old water heater
4. Original windows

You get the picture...

Obviously, I'm not going to go out and purchase these items since that would spell out FRAUD in a big way. However, would lawyers find it useful to have estimates of replacement costs when tabulating home maintenace with respect to Schedule J? It seems something is always breaking (last month I replaced my 18 year old dishwasher...$400. I'm just wondering if trustees take into account age of home when looking over numbers for home maintenance. Haven't seen this topic covered in the forums so I figured I'd ask...Thanks!

[lrprn]

I'm just wondering if trustees take into account age of home when looking over numbers for home maintenance. Haven't seen this topic covered in the forums so I figured I'd ask...Thanks!

We are in somewhat the same situation - we have a 40 year old house that is showing its age as well.

To estimate the value of our home when we filed Ch 13, I researched similar houses in our neighborhood that had been sold in the last year, plus I contacted a real estate company and asked for a fair market value estimate. Because of the age of our house, its ancient kitchen (we're still using the original stove!) and bathrooms (one has the original 70s wallpaper!), and generally 80s looking interior that screams "you will have to spend a ton to get this house up to snuff", the estimate came in about $35K lower than our neighborhood's average value.

Our trustee hasn't said a thing about this, but just in case he does, we are ready to prove how we estimated the value of our house. Our lawyer is very comfortable with our figures.

If you file Ch 13, you are allowed to include a certain amount for house upkeep and repair in your plan. Your lawyer will know what amount will fly with the trustees and judge in your bk district.

[keepmine]

There is nothing fraudulent in spending money to maintain your home. Those are reasonable and necessary expenses and wouldn't be challenged.

[loonzilla]

So, current take on this matter is:

1. Trustee has an amount they are used to seeing with respect to Schedule J on Home Repairs. Having estimates on costs for needed repairs will not "up" this number; nor will just having an older home versus a newer home.
2. You can increase the amount of "normal" home repair if you have documented receipts showing your expenses. After reading through the posts, this also seems to be a stretch. Too many times I read "Trustee is used to seeing numbers like this" versus "real-life-6 month worth of receipts" to prove your cost.
3. Home repairs are not considered fraud type expenses.

Let's elaborate on #3. What if someone spent 4K-6K around 4-6 months prior to filing for these repairs...wouldn't that be very suspicous? I guess my gut says yes.

My next step is to look on Pacer and see what other folks are "normally" claiming in their schedule J for my district. That would probably be a good start.

Any other opinions would be apprecaited. Thanks...

[keepmine]

Let's elaborate on #3. What if someone spent 4K-6K around 4-6 months prior to filing for these repairs...wouldn't that be very suspicous? I guess my gut says yes.


Why would it be suspicous? Old houses wear out, old appliances break. I'll say again, there is no fraud in keeping your home in good repair.

[lisac77]

Why would it be suspicous? Old houses wear out, old appliances break. I'll say again, there is no fraud in keeping your home in good repair.

We were told that home improvments are the safest thing to spend extra money on. Everyone needs a home that is up to date and has working AC/water/heating/plumbing/electricity, etc. All of the lawyers I interviewed encouraged us to fix up the house before we filed.