More details to this question:
My car died back in September and I had to get a new car. I am currently paying on the car and have not gotten behind in any payments. Will I get to keep the car and continue making payments if I file a Chapter 7? I still have over 5 years of payments left. I wasnt sure if the car would be taken away or not.
Thanks,
Jack
1 ANSWER
Bankruptcy Attorney serving Burbank, CA
Partner at
Law Office of Mark J. Markus
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You most likely can keep your vehicle if you can maintain the monthly payments. However, you may need to reaffirm the loan in your bankruptcy case, depending on who your lender is. Your attorney can help you decide that.
The only other issue would be the equity you have in the vehicle. If there is any equity, then you need to exempt it under applicable laws in order to prevent the Trustee from selling it. Exemptions are "protections" for value you have in certain assets such that they are "exempt" from collections. Every state has different exemptions amounts available. Exemption laws are based on the state where you resided for the 2 years prior to filing your bankruptcy case or, if you lived in more than 1 state during that period, in the state where you resided for the greater part of the 180 days prior to that 2 year period.
Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law
Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991.
http://www.bklaw.com/
bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/
Follow Me on Twitter: @bklawr
Answered on Jan 20th, 2012 at 4:36 PM