Originally Posted by OLDSRALLYE350

Got any pictures of the car it would be nice to see whats the cause of all the trouble.

Originally Posted by MaxDog

I am an attorney. I can't give you legal advice because I don't know enough about the circumstances. What I can tell you is that some of the advice you are getting in this thread is very bad and will get you thrown in JAIL. THe bankruptcy judges and trustees take attempted/actual fraud very seriously. I'm not saying thats what happened here. But if they suspect it, they will take very aggressive action against you. This is not something to screw around with.

If it were me, I would get two appraisals, from CERTIFIED appraisers that have experience doing appraisals for bankruptcies. Not your Uncle Joey. Professional appraisers. Hopefully you can get appraisals that show the value of the car is $3,000 or something close to it. Take those to your Dad's lawyer, along with proof of payment of the $3,000, ask the lawyer to submit them to the court/trustee. The Court/Trustee will then make a decision as to whether you have to pay some additional money to your Dad's creditors.

Again, this is not legal advice to you specifically, its just what I would do if I was in this situation myself.

By the way, I hate lawyers too. But to all of you making comments regarding "the bloodsucking attorneys, etc." - When was the last time you worked for free??? I gave up 8 years of my life for undergraduate and lawschool, busted my *** for all of those 8 years, spent over $100,000 for tuition, worked the entire 8 years, got divorced because I was never around for my wife, read so many thousands of pages of cases that I damaged my eyes. Then once I finally graduated, I had to study for 8 hours per day for 3 months straight for the bar exam. Now I have to deal with ******* opposing counsel and whinney *** clients all day. Your damn right I'm going to charge an arm and a leg to represent someone. If you don't like it, kiss my *** and represent yourself. Good day.

Originally Posted by redoldsman

It sound to me like your dad should pay the $2,000 if you wind up owing it. He is working now and the one that got you into this mess. About the minimum and attorney is going to bill at is $250/hour. Do the math and you will see you can spend much time with an attorney. EIght hours and you are at $2,000 in attorney fees. If he is unsuccessful you are in the hole for a total of $4,000. If I remember right, you said the car is a 64 Impala. If it is a Super Sport or even a 2 door hardtop, it is going to be worth over $3,000. Go to ebay and see what they are selling for, not what they are listed for. It will give you an idea. Chances are pretty good if you offer them $1,000, they will take it. They have to pay the attorney too so they will not spend too much time on it. I hope this does not turn out to be one of those lessons learned. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Creativeindy

From someone who filed bankruptcy recently (2 years ago last Tuesday) I can in fact tell you they do go back up to a certain time (2 years?)and if you transferred any real property or assets to a family member they will take a closer look at what was transferred and why. I went through this same bullshit with my Motorcycle.

I did not do it intentional, I sold my bike to a family member 11 months before I filed. Back then I didn't even think I would file and my life was fine. 11 months later a split up and divorce caused me to have some very serious debt, missed car payments, credit cards, the house we had together, her apartment she broke the lease on all of it was being garnished off my pay so I had no choice to file.

You are required to list previous years income, tax returns, lottery winnings, real property, etc etc. They do require you to disclose if you have transferred any real property to any family members in the past "X" amount of time. My family member didn't have to pay anything extra because I could easily prove I was not in debt when I sold it.

Now I could see if someone was WAAAAY behind on things, credit card bills, creditors trying to get money etc etc and someone sold something to a family member. If they didn't use any of the money to pay creditors or they sold it for a very small amount in an attempt to give it to family instead of loosing it in bankruptcy. I could definitely see them going back to the family member to get the car or money if it's certified worth more.

So I have to ask has it ever been appraised prior or has the trustee had it appraised yet? Because I know for a fact a US Bankruptcy trustee can't just put his own price on a debtors property or past transferred property. They can't just sit around and say "Oh Mr. X's car he sold to his son is worth 5k in my eyes so he must pay us more". There is some missing info here on this. I JUST went through all this with land, car and motorcycle mentioned above. I know they can't just make up there own amounts.

Originally Posted by gbodyfan

Odds are it will be a lesson learned the hard way. Dont buy anything from from family going into bankruptcy.

Originally Posted by gbodyfan

All the court had was some 20 year old pics my dad gave them, there wasnt anything more recent because the car has just sat in the garage. Trustee just came up with that number.

Originally Posted by gbodyfan

The way thier attorneys made it sound is if it comes in at $3002 im gonna owe them $2. They are strictly after me for money.

Originally Posted by MaxDog

Your Dad is not doing a very good job helping you.

Originally Posted by jaunty75

This sounds like the story of the poor guy's life.