If you own a car outright and want to keep that car when you file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, your bankruptcy lawyer can negotiate a “buy back” agreement with the Chapter 7 Trustee in Orlando appointed to your case that can allow you to keep your car.
In Orlando, or anywhere in Florida, every Debtor who qualifies for Florida’s exemptions is allowed to claim exemptions against assets (like a car that is owned outright) to protect those assets from being taken from the Debtor when he or she files for bankruptcy. In the above video I use the example of a car worth $10,000 that an Orlando client may own and want to keep.
To maximize the exemptions available to you, in Florida at least, it helps if you do not receive the benefit of Florida’s homestead exemption. So, if you are renting or if you choose to surrender your house through the bankruptcy and therefore do not receive the benefit of the Homestead exemption, your bankruptcy lawyer can apply a $4,000 Wildcard Exemption that is available to you to use to help you keep your car.
Every Debtor who qualifies for Florida exemptions is allowed a $1,000 vehicle exemption. Couple that with the $4,000 Wildcard Exemption, and you’ve just protected $5,000 of the $10,000 car in our example. The remaining $5,000 is what you “buy back” from the Trustee. Most Orlando Trustees will allow my clients up to a year to pay the $5,000 by accepting monthly payments from my client at no interest. By entering into the agreement, the Trustee avoids expenses associated with selling the car.
Almost all of my Orlando clients want to keep their car when they file for bankruptcy. With the help of their bankruptcy lawyer they can keep a car and file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy by entering into a buy back agreement, negotiated by their bankruptcy lawyer, with your Chapter 7 Trustee.
