Bankruptcy: Can They Take My Furniture?
- If furniture is being rented, ownership is not relinquished to a debtor. So the debtor is not entitled to keep his rented furniture. As long as payments are made, furniture which is being purchased on a rent-to-own basis can be retained by the debtor. Purchases made on credit transfer ownership to the debtor, so it does not matter if payments are being made to the credit card company.
Furniture is subject to levy if the value of the furniture exceeds state or federal exemption limits. - Exemption rights can be asserted to claim that furniture is exempt property under either state or federal exemption guidelines. State exemption limits differ from federal exempt property limits.
- Federal exemptions for furniture can be claimed up to $10,125 for your unused homestead exemption value. Debtors can claim a $475-per-item furniture exemption up to $9,850. Finally, a debtor can claim a "wild card" exemption of $925 for any single property.
Under your state's exemption, you are entitled to claim furniture as exempt up to the state's exemption limits. Values indicated are current as of October 1, 2010.