Up until recently Oregon car owners who wished to file bankruptcy had cause for concern. Under the Oregon exemptions, single filers could protect only $3000 in car equity and married filers could protect only $3000 each or $6000 for one vehicle.
Oregon car owners who wished to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy with more car equity than allowed under the miserly Oregon exemptions faced the prospect of having their cars sold off during the pendency of their bankruptcy case. With Oregon’s recent adoption of the federal exemptions, car owners can now breathe a sigh of relief.
Under the federal exemptions, an Oregon bankruptcy filer can now use the federal car exemption to protect up to $3450 in car equity and this amount can be doubled for married filers. In addition to these protections, a single Oregon bankruptcy filer can stack wildcard and home equity exemptions to protect an additional $11,225 and married filers can stack these exemptions to protect an additional $22450 in car equity.
Unless you are a single bankruptcy filer and you have more than $15,000 in car equity or you are married and have more than $30,000, you are safe. Losing cars in Chapter 7 used to be commonplace. It is now difficult to imagine anyone losing their car in bankruptcy ever again.
