NY A08735

Increases homestead exemption from unspecified amount to $150,000 in Kings, Queens, New York, Bronx, Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam counties; $125,000 in Dutchess, Albany, Columbia, Orange, Saratoga, and Ulster counties; and $75,000 in remaining counties.

Expands personal property exemptions including increasing fuel supply from 60 to 120 days, books from $50 to $500, domestic animals and food from $450 to $1,000, jewelry and art from $35 to $1,000, and tools of trade from $600 to $3,000.

Adds new personal property exemptions for computers and associated equipment, cellphones, prescribed health aids, one motor vehicle not exceeding $4,000 (or $10,000 if equipped for disabled debtor), and $1,000 in cash or bank accounts if no homestead exemption is claimed.

Increases motor vehicle bankruptcy exemption from $2,400 to $4,000 above liens ($10,000 if equipped for disabled debtor) and increases aggregate personal property bankruptcy exemption from $5,000 to $10,000.

Allows individual debtors to elect federal bankruptcy exemptions under 11 U.S.C. § 522 instead of state exemptions and establishes automatic cost-of-living adjustments every three years beginning April 1, 2012, based on Consumer Price Index.