H. B. 2477
(By Delegates Hrutkay, Beane, Craig, Webster and Amores)
[Introduced February 17, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §46A-2-136 of
the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to exemptions from
execution or other judicial process in consumer credit
transaction or consumer leases.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §46A-2-136
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. CONSUMER CREDIT PROTECTION.
§46A-2-136. Personal property exemptions
Any consumer residing in this State may set apart and hold
personal property to be exempt from execution or other judicial
process resulting from consumer credit transactions or consumer
leases, except for the purchase money due on such property, in such
amounts as follows: Clothing and other wearing apparel of the
consumer, his spouse and any dependents of such consumer, not to exceed the fair market value of two hundred dollars; furniture,
appliances, furnishings and fixtures regularly used for family
purposes in the consumer's residence, to the extent of the fair
market value of one thousand dollars; Children's books, pictures,
toys and other such personal property of children; all medical
health equipment used for health purposes by the consumer, his
spouse and any dependent of such consumer; tools of trade,
including any income-producing property used in the consumer's
principal occupation, to the extent of the fair market value of one
thousand dollars; and any policy of life or endowment insurance
which is payable to the spouse or children of the insured consumer
or to a trustee for their benefit, except the cash value of any
accrued dividends thereon and the personal property which may be
exempt from execution or other process in cases other than consumer
credit transactions or consumer leases as set out in chapter
thirty-eight, article eight, section one of this code. When a
consumer claims personal property as exempt under the provisions of
this section, he or she shall deliver a list containing all the
personal property owned or claimed by him or her and all items of
such property he or she claims as exempt hereunder, with the value
of each separate item listed according to his or her best
knowledge, to the officer holding the execution or other such
process. Such list shall be sworn to by affidavit. If the value
of the property named in such list exceeds the amounts specified in this section, the consumer shall state at the foot thereof what
part of such property he or she claims as exempt. If such value
does not exceed the amounts specified in this section, the claim of
exemption shall be held to extend to the whole thereof without
stating more and, if no appraisement is demanded, the property so
claimed shall be set aside as exempt. Where the consumer owning
exempt property is absent or incapable of acting or neglects or
declines to act hereunder, the claim of exemption may be made, the
list delivered and the affidavit made by his or her spouse with the
same effect as if the owner had done so. Upon receipt of such a
list, the officer to whom it is given shall immediately exhibit
such list to the creditor or his or her agent or attorney. The
rights granted and procedures provided for in article eight,
chapter thirty-eight of this code shall apply to any proceeding
under this section, except that the provisions of sections one and
three of such article shall not apply.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to conform the exemptions of
personal property from execution or other process that apply to
consumer credit transactions and consumer leases to conform with
the changes made to §38-8-1
made by the 2004 Legislature which
changed exemptions in other cases.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.