Using Kelly Blue Book to Value Your Car When Filing Bankruptcy
During bankruptcy, most trustee’s are satisfied with the Kelly Blue Book value from kbb.com to value your car. However, on the Kelly Blue Book site there are a number of options to determine the value of the car. How do you know when to use the retail value, trade in value and private party value.
To answer this, you need to determine why the value of your car is important in bankruptcy. Many times, debtors will give a low ball value of their vehicles. There is no advantage of providing a low figure in bankruptcy. Instead it may create surprises during the case and more headache.
In a Chapter 7, the trustee is looking to liquidate unexempt assets. Meaning, the trustee wants to sell your unprotected assets, and turn over the profits to your creditors. If you give a low value, you are only protecting up to the low value you provided on your bankruptcy documents. If the trustee thinks your car is worth more, then now you have to waste more time and more money. You will need to amend your petition and update the value of your car to protect it from the trustee.
Be Honest to the Court and Yourself When Filing Bankruptcy
The easiest way to value your car is to use Kelly Blue Book. They are professionals at valuing cars. This is what they do. The website suggests that “you need to be as honest with yourself as possible.”
Debtor’s also need to think differently. In many cases Debtor’s think that the value they provide is the final say. As stated above, the trustee can send out his own people to look at the car and get a value. Remember, what it comes down to is, how much can the car be sold for. Sometimes, I like to think of it this way. If the car is sitting at a dealership, what is the sticker price of the car, and how much will the dealer actually sell the car for.
Catch all the Issues Before You File Bankruptcy
If you are honest to yourself with the value of the car, it will help you in your bankruptcy case. You will be able to catch all of the possible issues even before you file for bankruptcy. Nothing will surprise you during the bankruptcy case. It will save you time and money in the long run and you can get out of bankruptcy faster.