Opinion
No. 78-02232
January 23, 1979
Estates — Title to Property — Exempt Property — Tools of the Trade
A bankrupt was not entitled to an exemption for her car as a "tool of her trade" merely because she needed the car to get to work. The bankrupt had claimed a $1,600.00 exemption on her automobile pursuant to ORS 23.160(1)(c), that section of the Oregon exemption statute which grants a $1600.00 exemption for "tools . . . necessary to enable the judgment debtor to carry on the trade . . . by which he habitually earns his living." Her schedule indicated that the car had a value of $3500.00 with an equity of $1500.00. Bankrupt had argued that she used her automobile to go to and from her job as a waitress and that without the automobile she could not keep her present job.
The court noted that in 1965 the Oregon legislature decided that a person should be entitled to a vehicle whether or not it is used to carry on a trade, occupation, or profession and removed the reference to "vehicle" from ORS 23.160(c) and enacted ORS 23.160(d) specifically creating an $800.00 exemption to permit an individual, who did not have tools of his trade to the value specified in (c), to claim a reasonable exempt equity in a vehicle which would not otherwise be exempt. The court held that "the legislative intent is clear that a vehicle, however necessary to go to and from work, is not a tool of the trade for this purpose and that the exemption therein is limited to $800.000" The court noted that this does not deprive the bankrupt of her job by depriving her of the means to reach it. She could either keep her car by raising the money to pay the trustee the amount of the nonexempt equity, or have it sold by trustee and buy a less expensive vehicle with the $800.00 she would be paid by the trustee for her exemption. See Sec. 70a [§ 541(a).] at ¶ 9501.