Garage sale value-watch out !

[jross2]

What is the name of your state? Fl

I recently had a trustee ordered appraisal of my personal property that I listed on my BK schedule. A pleasant young lady came at the appointed hour for the appraisal and also shed some light on this notion of "garage sale value" which we all see used with great frequency on this and other sites. The appraiser values your property at "fair market value", determined by prices as seen in "quality used furniture stores", antique stores, electronic stores,appliance stores, etc etc. This is as ordered by trustee.
Don't be fooled folks, Garage sale value only applies if you don't get caught.

 

[anadude]

there's nothing to get caught on.

you supposed to make a good faith effort to value your property (as long as you've done that you're fine, it's very subjective), you're NOT an appraiser, that's why trustees hire appraisers (professionals).

 

[Ladynred]

"Quality used furniture stores" ??

Have you even BEEN in such a shop ? I have .. and unless the furniture is in absolutely pristine condition, and they're usually NOT in that condition, their price tags are WAY too high for what you're getting !! These places even sell NEW furniture, possibly overstocks or obsoleted models, and that drives up the prices they charge for the not-so-nice stuff sitting on their display floor. It also includes overhead for the space their in.

You can bet that no Trustee, if they take your furniture, is going to put it in such a shop. They'll send it to an auction or advertise it somewhere - and even THEY won't get the kind of price applied in one of those 'quality used furniture' stores !!!

Every book I've got, every lawyer I've spoken to says the same thing - use garage sale prices. FL has a very SMALL personal property exemption of only $1000 - so I can see that Trustees might go for the furniture in a house they can't touch - and leave a lot of empty rooms.

 

[jross2]

I think we can all probably guess the reason the trustee wants to use those prices. We know he does not want the furniture-but he wants the cash value above exemption. I am pretty sure my stuff is not going to be more than 4 or 5 hundred above exemption value.I have a lttle surprise for the trustee, I am going to tell them to back up the truck to the house and deal with the disposal of the stuff any way they see fit.They want their pound of flesh, I will be happy to oblige them.
To be honest, I should have suspected something from the start. I interviewed 3 lawyers before I hired and asked them all about how to value my property and each one was non-committal and would only say "value it at what you think it is worth". IAnyway, we will see if the trustee wants to deal with or abandon interest in my STUFF. I am willing to bet it is abandoned.

 

[anadude]

exactly, if the trustee wants your stuff (that's their right), the trustee can choke on it (deal with it).

 

[InsulinRules]

jross2, what was the outcome of the appraisal?

We know the trustee ordered the appraisal and the appraiser came out....

What happened then?

 

[jross2]

A hearing was held in front of the judge and the trustee abandoned all claims to my property if I would pay for the appraisal. Much ado about nothing. Trustee just felt like flexing her muscle I guess. I did pay the 140$ and received my discharge about 6 weeks later. Alls well that ends well.

 

[anadude]

hah, that trustee had to feel like an idiot, all that time, trouble, and appraisal fee, ha, all the trustee got out of you was $140, heheeheheheheheheheheheeh.

i'm surprised you even paid that, the trustee would have eventually abandoned the stuff anyways. guess you just wanted it all to be over, which we can all understand.