Newby w/ Florida Motor Vehicle Question

[DazedandConfuse]

I've been reading posts for a while and I have a question to ask. I have over $18,000 in credit card debt from 4 years ago. I haven't had a credit card in 3 years. I now pay cash for everything. I live with my parents and don't have any real assets except for my 1994 Volvo station wagon. Depending on which website you check it's value is between $3400-$5200 retail ($1200-$2700 trade-in). long story short, I just got notice of a writ of garnishment from my employer, luckily I don't make enough to garnish (I'm p/t). My question: Can they come and take the car? I also have a business with a friend where we haul stuff for people (for cash). I really need the car!

[Dollar Bill]

You may have exemption on your car. Check the exemptions in FL. I hear that trustees base things on trade in value. 18k may be enough for a trustee not to want to distribute. Your car would sell for 1k @ a dealer auction that many trustees use. (I'm a dealer) It may be more trouble than it is worth, but again check your exemptions to find out if you can protect it.

There are many folks on this forum that live in FL.

[DivorceRuinedMe]

Vehicle exemption in Florida is 1K. If you don't have a homestead, you may be able to use the 4K personal property exemption to protect more of the car though. Maybe someone else here will know.

If you are asking if they can come take the car in lieu of the garnishment, I dont think so but I could be wrong.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

DivorceRuinedMe is right; $4k of unused homestead exemption is a wildcard. Add that to your existing $1k motor vehicle exemption, and you have $5k right there.

If it were me, I would take the lowest online value of the car that I could find -- make sure it's from a major site like NADA or kbb.com (Kelly Blue Book) -- and print out a couple of copies to keep as documentation just in case. When you're doing the online valuing, *definitely* be honest and include the power steering and sunroof because if your trustee is like mine, he may request the title, the insurance declaration page, and a *picture* of said vehicle. Mine did. Fortunately for me, it's a beater no matter which way you look at it, and no matter how hard that trustee might have squinted it was STILL a beater.

As long as you can back up where you got that figure, you're golden. If the trustee wants to haggle, fine, but if you get an honest online appraisal, declaring the lowest value you get, and print a copy or two for your records, then if there's any question at all you whip out your copy and say, "This is how I arrived at that figure, sir." Unless there is very obviously more value to it than you have declared, you won't have any problems. The trustee does not want your used hoopty. Good luck!!!

[DazedandConfuse]

I thought the personal property exemption was just $1K, and the homestead exemption didn't count at all if you didn't own any property. I need clarification!

[lrprn]

I thought the personal property exemption was just $1K, and the homestead exemption didn't count at all if you didn't own any property. I need clarification!

In June 2007 the FL legislature passed a new law that allowed FL residents filing bankruptcy who did not own a home to have a $4000 "wildcard" exemption instead.

Read this law blog post regarding the $1000 FL property exemption plus the $4000 "no-homestead" FL exemption by a well-respected Orlando bankruptcy attorney Jonathan Alper - http://www.bankruptcyorlando.com/200...reting-fl.html

As of six weeks ago, FL case law decisions allow a filer who does not own a home to add the $4000 'wildcard' exemption on top of the $1000 exemption. That means you can protect $5000 of personal assets which mean this should cover your car value easily and protect it from seizure when you file. (Although a car this old - even a Volvo - is not likely to be of interest to a trustee even if you had only the $1000 auto exemption to protect it.)

Hope this helps!

[DazedandConfuse]

Sweet, so where can I find a Florida Affidavit of Exemption?

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Sweet, so where can I find a Florida Affidavit of Exemption?

HUH???

Sorry, you totally lost me with that one. I did not file with FL exemptions, but I looked at a large number of local cases to see how they were filed and if there was any form I was missing, and I never saw a "Florida Affidavit of Exemption."

As far as I know -- unless I'm missing something huge, which is possible -- you list the car and its value under Schedule B of Form 6, and then the value of the applicable exemptions on Schedule C with the applicable law references, and leave it at that. I truly do not remember seeing anything more than that on the cases I looked at. Keep in mind that Florida has a separate and additional $1000 exemption for motor vehicles, so you would stack the necessary portion of the $4k wildcard against that, and use the $1k personal property exemption (plus whatever is left over of the $4k wildcard) for everything else.

May I ask, are you filing pro se, or do you have an atty?




Edit: Out of curiosity, I googled "Florida Affidavit of Exemption" and sure enough, it's not directly related to bankruptcy. It's when your car is repossessed by a creditor and you want to get it back: you get this form and file it with the Sheriff's Office to "exempt" it from being seized in a judgement. It is not anything you file as a part of your Ch7. Hope this helps.

[DazedandConfuse]

I'm not filing at all! I have no assets except for my car. I want to protect that since I need it. (I live with my parents)

[DazedandConfuse]

I want the collection agency off my back! They sent a writ of garnishment to my employer, and sent me a letter where, quote:

"Your personal possessions, including your car, will be seized and sold at a public auction!"

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Dazed, you do understand that you are posting to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy forum, right?

Try this link for collection problems: http://www.bkforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4

I think you'll have better luck there. I assumed (and I think everyone else did as well) that because you were asking *here*, specifically, you were posting in reference to a Chapter 7 that you were thinking of filing. I don't know much about garnishments and seizures, but maybe if you try asking in the Collections Problems forum (the link I just gave you) you'll get answers that are better suited to your needs. Good luck to you!