Will I have to give up my Van?

[6sillywalkers]

It is time for me to ask a silly question...

Ok so we are a family of 6. We live in Az. and have a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan. It has been paid off for some time now. Would we have to give up? I know it has a lot of miles (I think it has over 125,000 miles on it if not more) because we used to travel a lot and bought it used from a car rental place. It has two small dents on the side where someone dropped a ladder on it. Also there is chipped paint on the bumper in a small stripe down the back from the garage door (I can't ever remember to pull in far enough). Not in the best of condition.

My issue is we need a van because if we are only allowed one vehicle for a family of 6 what else are we going to do?

We also paid cash for a 1999 Ford F-250 4 door crew cab, blah, blah, blah about two years ago (got a smoking deal). I have a feeling we will have to dispose of that considering it is worth $10,000 even though we really need it I am sure we can do without. My husband will be sad to part with his baby.

What do they do in situations where you have to give up a vehicle? or any asset for that matter!

How do I find out what exemptions are allowed in AZ. ?

[325Falcon]

What do you have for car exemptions?

[WantToBeDebtFre]

I think I know the answer to this but someone else please correct me if I'm wrong. I found that you can have one automobile exempt up to $5000 in AZ - http://www.totalbankruptcy.com/state...na_summary.htm

Also I believe you can keep non-exempt property but you'll have to pay the trustee the difference. For example, if the van is worth $6000 then you could pay the trustee $1000 and keep the van.

[6sillywalkers]

How do they set a value for your car?

I have seen vans like mine online selling from a dealer for under $5000 but I just wondered!

[JRScott]

The best place to find out the value of your van is to go to NADA.com. Fill in the info and you can get a good value

I'm not sure what value you can exempt in Indiana that's something you'll need to ask a lawyer

[WantToBeDebtFre]

My attorney wanted the retail value from www.kbb.com which is the most expensive value amount. But that's how much a dealer could sell it for - not you. I owe more on my vehicles then they're worth so it wasn't an issue for me.

[emaretta]

In florida I only get a $1000 car exemption...nice. My van is probably worth about 2K. It was a gift from my parents less than 6 months ago b/c my other van's a/c went out and it was about to die. I wish I wouldv'e known I'd be filing and had them hold on to it. Now i'm going to have to shell out $1000 or more to keep it!
I was told that the car is the only thing I need a written appraisal on and that carmax gives free appraisals. So I'm going to go there and point out every single little flaw!

[6sillywalkers]

So now this brings up a question for me at least. If you have to come up with $1000 where is it going to come from? Don't they take hold of what money is in your accounts? I am new to this so I don't know what all goes on.

I did do the KBB for my van and Fair value is $4750 and the best is $5700 so I am ok with that. But if I set $700 in my account for that would they take it and put it toward something else and I have to come up with another $700?

I highly doubt that it would be worth the high end because the passenger side window is broken and doesn't roll down. DH is a mechanic and said it would cost $300 in parts just to fix it.

[arkienurse]

So now this brings up a question for me at least. If you have to come up with $1000 where is it going to come from? Don't they take hold of what money is in your accounts? I am new to this so I don't know what all goes on.

I did do the KBB for my van and Fair value is $4750 and the best is $5700 so I am ok with that. But if I set $700 in my account for that would they take it and put it toward something else and I have to come up with another $700?

I highly doubt that it would be worth the high end because the passenger side window is broken and doesn't roll down. DH is a mechanic and said it would cost $300 in parts just to fix it.

I have a 2001 grand caravan too. We have replaced the driver side motor once, and it is broken again. But maybe parts are cheaper here, because we paid less than 100 for the parts to fix it. And have you had trouble with the switch thingy that controls cool/warm air for driver and passenger side? I drove mine all of last winter without being able to put warm air on on the passenger side. AC works fine, but come time to defrost or blow warm air, it will only blow warm on the driver side.

[emaretta]

So now this brings up a question for me at least. If you have to come up with $1000 where is it going to come from? Don't they take hold of what money is in your accounts? I am new to this so I don't know what all goes on.

The way I understand it is that they will be looking at my bank statments and pay stubs from the previous 6 months before I file. I will be declaring chapter 7 so there are no repayments to take care of. Even then, you have control of your account and you pay your trustee just like any other bill, but if you miss just 1 payment they can throw the whole case out.
I have not heard of the trustees freezing accounts especially during the filing because nothing has been officially ruled on yet. I plan on saving up the money I keep from not paying my mortgage and all my credit cards to cover any differences which should only be my car. They do ask at the time of filing how much cash you have on hand...anyone know if they take that?