Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy Court Gives Homestead Protection To Motor Home

By Jonathan Alper

Questions come up from time to time about qualification of motor homes as protected homestead property. There have been several court cases which have disqualified motor homes, as well as houseboats, as homestead. However, a recent case in Orlando bankruptcy court held that a debtor could claim his motor home as his protected homestead. The homestead of motorized vehicle depends on the particular facts of each case. Prior cases denied homestead protection to debtor?s whose boats or motor homes were in good repair and were frequently used for transportation as well as a dwelling. In this recent case, the judge found that the debtors showed no intention of using their motor home for transportation, they had not maintained the motor home in drivable condition, the home was situated permanently on a lot, and they had driven the motor home only once for the purpose of moving the home from the dealership to their lot.

The bankruptcy court rejected the argument that a motor home cannot be homestead because it is personal property (as opposed to land) or that is not a traditional house. The court stated that the Constitutional homestead provisions apply to "dwelling houses" and that the term should be defined on case by case basis. This holding is consistent with prior court decisions denying homestead to motor homes, buses, and boats that were either used frequently for transportation or capable of being used for transportation. In re Schumacher 6:08-bk-01029

posted by Jonathan Alper, bankruptcy and asset protection lawyer, Orlando, Florida

Full post as published by Florida Bankruptcy Law on April 24, 2009 (boomark / email).