Personal collections of collectibles can be protected under the bankruptcy code. However, the value of those items will be important in determining how protected they will be. In most cases, you will be able to keep your stuff.
All assets must be listed when filing a bankruptcy. This includes obvious things such as homes, cars, investment accounts, cash, and electronics and furniture. These items are then exempted from your creditors, using either the federal or state exemption (in most cases filed in Pennsylvania the federal exemptions will be used).
There are specific exemptions for things such as jewelry, real estate, cars, and tools of the trade. But what about personal collectibles? This may include things such as art, antiques, comic books, baseball cards, sneakers, coins, or any other number of collectible items. In most cases, the wild card exemption of the federal exemptions will be used to protect these items from your creditors. For something like sneakers, the exemption for household goods may be allowed, as this includes wearing apparel and shoes.
What values will be listed when trying to exempt these items? The value will be what the items would sell for if they were sold through normal markets, such as eBay or other consignment options. Not what you paid for them originally. In most cases, the United States trustees office is not interested in selling these items unless a significant and easy profit can be made to be used to pay your creditors. The United States trustees office will not want to set up a stand at a comic book convention to sell your old comics. If you have a massive collection of anything that could easily be sold in bulk, they may become interested. But once again, we only need to use the exemption amount for what they would get if the items were sold, given all of the circumstances that make it difficult to sell such items.
In the vast majority of cases, the United States trustees office will not be interested. However, this does not mean that you do not have to list these items or disclose them. As your bankruptcy attorney, I will help you determine whether or not losing personal collections or collectibles would be a realistic possibility. We will try to fit them under the various exemption schemes. If you have questions about bankruptcy or protecting your assets, call us at 412-414-9366 set up a free consultation to discuss your situation. It would be happy to answer your questions and explain the process.