Tortuga Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 First of all I just want to say hi and thank you! After being surprised with a CA on my reports a few weeks ago, I have been lurking on this board religiously and have found it immensely helpful. Now let me try to be succinct:A year ago, my living partner was unable to pay his debts and decided to file for chapter 7. He still hasn't filed, in part because of the matter of the attorneys fees and also because he can't get any attorney to return his phone calls. Since he doesn't appear to have any assets needing protection, I did some research and talked him into considering filing a DIY bk. Thanks to this board, I downloaded the NOLO book last night and dug in.The only item that concerns me is our car. We bought this car in June 2004 and both of our names are on the title. It was purchased with a car that was given to me as a gift by my family, the car he already owned, and money that was lended to him by a family member. The blue book is at least $9k. We live in CO where there is exemption up to $3000 and no wildcard.I'm just wondering what could possibly happen to this car and I am stumped trying to find an answer. The only information I can find concerns property owned by spouses. I know if I was the sole owner there would be no right for the trustee to sell it, but I don't know if that changes since he is on the title. So in a nutshell, I guess all I'm asking is: If you jointly own property with someone who is not your spouse, and they file chapter 7, can this property be sold? And if so, are you entitled to any equity in it? Does anyone know how this works or give me a nudge in the right direction? Thanks in advance for your time and your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gryffindor Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 How much equity is in the car?Also, he can "reaffirm" the vehicle to keep it (if required in your state). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 You don't have to be married, if your name is on the title as JOINT owner, then you EACH have a 50% interest in the equity in the car. You say its worth 9K -- where did you get that number ? Do NOT use Kelly Blue book, its too high, get at least a trade-in value from a car dealer. If you take HALF the value, how much equity is there for your partner ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blrogs Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 As ladynred says dont look at the kelly blue book dealers use the black book and always use the average value, this will be a very close value, it is also what any wholesaler will use. hopes this helps newbie still learning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Wow, thanks so much for the quick replies! If only the responses to my gw letters were this fast... Our equity in the car is about $8400, though maybe less. We bought it for 9k even and paid $2000 with our trade-ins. The 2k was paid with the loan he got from a family-member and he's paid 1400 of that off so far. I say "maybe less" because the loan was more than 2k and was used for other things such as registration and insurance so I don't know how exactly how we go about calculating that. I'm not sure what you mean by black book, but NADA shows the avg trade-in as $8400, retail $10,575. I was under the impression that this was what the trustee would use unless we get an independent appraisal? In any event, we would DEFINITELY get an appraisal. I should have mentioned before, but about two months ago, I kind of, um, crashed it. It's drivable, but I have an estimate for $3700 in body work needed. I'm guessing it's not in our best interest to get that taken care of any time soon, is it? 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blrogs Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 a very easy way to find an average value , if you live close to a dealer run it by and say i,m thinking of trading! what do you think its worth? i know not much with this damage ,but what do you think? and ask them to book it out. or if you would like to pm me with the year make model , miles all the acces, everything about it, i have a freind in the buiss, its only a phone call. hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Right, do NOT get it repaired right away ! Even after you get it fixed, the fact that it HAS been hit detracts from the value, especially if there's been any frame damage. The fact that its been hit will likely go into the records for the VIN on that car, you can look it up on CARFAX - and so can anyone else for $19.You can get a black book quote here:http://www.carquotes.com/blackbook.aspI hope you are DEDUCTING the amount owed on the car from the estimated value, what's left is your equity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortuga Posted January 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Great, thanks a lot! Looks like I have a little less to be worried about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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