Donating an motorhome to charity

[ackermari]

I thought I was doing something nice, and donated our 1996 BFT to Habitat for Humanity. Done. No turning back. I thought I would warn anyone who may decide to do this.

The coach is in very good condition, EVERYTHING works. The interior is immaculate, all original, and there is no rust. 6 good tires. All original manuals and receipts for all our repairs and service were included, and it was covered, with a large fan running inside, until it was picked up. We took very good care of it, as did the previous owner. We had just returned, less than a month before, from a 7500 mile cross country trip. We realized that motorhome ownership is not for us. We were hauling around a kitchen and bathroom that we never used, simply for the convenience of beds and a/c at night (which I need due to heart and other health issues)

We were stressing over trying to sell it, and heard about charitable vehicle donations. I felt really good about it, and pretty much still do. A charity of our choice gets help, and we get a tax deduction.

This is what has me steamed:

The company they use to sell the vehicle has it listed as a “1996 Ford Econoling E350 Cutaway Van”. If anyone is searching their website and auction lists for an RV they will not find it! I suspect someone at the business wants it at a great price. The auction is in 5 Days, and they have the minimum bid at $400!

I am sick over this. I was led to believe that Habitat for Humanity would receive a nice donation from this sale. I was asked to send photos so they could market it, and I did. They used none of my photos. It was just dumped on an auction lot.

Anyone looking for a BFT cheap?

https://www.copart.com/lot/43621918

[Mike Jean Bandfield]

WOW! How low can you go? Stealing from HfH. I would think your state may have a tax fraud agency that might be interested. They might be able to stop the sale!.
Tell Habitat in case they might have leverage and list the sale yourself on Craigs List with your pictures. Make sure you keep the pictures for proof of value if you're claiming a tax deduction.

[bcope01]

Is not HfH complicit in this situation? After all, they selected the broker.

Makes me think I will find a charity other than HfH when I do give.

Bill

[ackermari]

It wouldn’t matter which charity I chose from the list of many. The only part Habitat for Humanity plays in this is they will receive the proceeds. The way it works is I sign the title over to Advanced Remarketing Services. ARS authorized an auction facility to handle the sale, but apparently ARS has to approve the final sale amount. ARS handles these donations for many different nonprofits, and they have one of the highest ratings (I did my homework on scams and fraud). So it wouldn’t have mattered which of the various nonprofits I chose.

I am going to call ARS tomorrow and let them know I am unhappy with the way they are marketing the vehicle. Maybe the person I originally spoke with didn’t communicate all the details. Or maybe they just told me what they thought I wanted to hear. I dont expect anything to change, but I would be remiss in not speaking my piece.

If I had known it would end up like this I would have given it to one of the homeless vets on one of the many online van dweller groups.

[Roger H]

It's a pretty outrageous way to list vehicles, but it appears that the auto company lists the vehicle by the chassis VIN description. I looked through some of the listings, and all of the motorhomes are listed by what the legal chassis VIN description is rather than what is built upon them. All the box trucks are listed as "cut-away chassis" and all of the Class A motorhomes are listed by whatever chassis description they were built on.

That surely doesn't bring the best return on them.

[nebraska built 4 two]

Change in marketing strategy on donated motorhome, saw on Ebay this morning.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/263950560895?ul_noapp=true

[stevek]

I have thought of donating a vehicle to charity, but never have.
I have an older minivan I need to replace. This I would donate.
Maybe worth 2-3 thous.
And...Maybe even my BF somewhere down the line.

I have always assumed you give to your favorite charity and in return
get a tax write-off.
Wonder what the charity would value your donation at?
NADA book value I guess? Surely you would get some paperwork.
Anybody have any examples?
Has anybody donated a vehicle?

Not sure with the new federal tax laws?
And if it effects donations?
I know it places a limitation on my prop. tax deductions.

[Mike Jean Bandfield]

It's complicated. ...and not that people don't have good intentions but you'll likely get more opinion than fact from discussion groups.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4303.pdf
and https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profi ... for-donors

Many things changed this tax year (2018) so past experience is not a reliable planning guide - especially for tax deductions.

[ackermari]

Yes, they listed it on e-bay. I was not letting up on this,, and when I told ARS I had contacted our local TV station and I was writing to Jimmy Carter about this issue the next day I got a call from the national director of the donated vehicle program at Habitat for Humanity. We spoke at length, several times, with me telling her everything that went wrong. I really do believe that she did not know how this was handled. Apparently they have dealt with motorhomes in the past, but rarely, and it looks like ARS did not know how to handle it. So now it is listed on Ebay.

My concern is that it was “dumped” on a salvage lot 3 1/2 weeks ago, and has sat there through torrential rains and some extreme heat. We had kept it covered with an industrial fan going inside, or with the AC running when uncovered, and we checked it daily for any possible problems. Heaven only knows what could have happened to it in 3 1/2 weeks of neglect in that kind of weather.

As far as the IRS amount for tax write off, I will get a receipt for the actual amount it sells for and that will be the amount I can claim as a charitable contribution.

So, we are working on this still. I will let you know how it ends up. I am not very confident at this point, but whats done is done.

Marianne