State Specific Question About: OREGON (OR)

Do you have anything to protect?

We have an LLC in "my" name to protect "our" assets.

If DH had his way in an ideal world, he'd have each house under its own LLC. :)

I hear people talking all the time about how they're forced to represent themselves, but I've had my attorney represent the LLC for both an eviction and contesting property taxes, and never had a problem.

What you need to know, if you are a member of the LLC and also are responsible for the day to day operations i.e. managing member, then you are personally liable for anything that occurs in regard to the llc, so in those cases the llc offers you very little protection

Now if you have an llc, hire a third party to be the management for the llc, then you have protection, but that’s usually only for the big boys, better to have a large insurance policy for one member llc

Too many people are under the misunderstanding that just because the property it titled LLC, your personal assets cannot be seized, just false,

That is why many people do not go the llc route not the fact a lawyer needs to represent the llc in court

I don't think it's worth it, just set up a DBA or trade name for a bit of obfuscation without the tax or legal headaches.

I formed an LLC to protect my ass-ets regardless to protect myself from liability. I had a corporation in the past that protected me personally from a major frivolous lawsuit.

Two weeks ago, I hired a scam-ster realtor to market my house on the MLS -- she gave me buyer/seller agreements instead of landlord/tenant agreements to sign. I asked her about this...she said "the forms are all the same" I crossed off buyer/seller agreement, etc.

Two days later I found out that I was right, I did in fact sign the wrong forms. At first she would not let me out of the realtor contract. When my attorney called her, she released me from the contract in a heartbeat. I had given her permission to sell my house instead of renting it.

Now...in Michigan...a corporation or LLC cannot represent themselves in court. This creates a sitatuion with hiring a property management company...who also cannot represent themselves or their clients in court.

So, I decided to rent the house myself. I need to see the credit report and payment history of the tenant(s). Most property management companies will not give out that information under the guise of some bogus privacy act. One property mgmt company sited "HIPPA" law -- which has to do with medical information. Good luck.

If you are active in managing your properties, you are personally liable for anything that goes wrong, even if you have an LLC. If the Tenant electrocutes himself, it was you, not your LLC, that did the wiring work or that did not install the GFIC outlet or you who negligently selected the incompetent handyman instead of a professional electrician. You will be sued.

Even if all of your properties are in separate LLCs, once your liability has been established, all of the equity in all of the LLCs will be reachable by the injured tenant to satisfy a judgment against you.

So LLCs do not provide protection to a hands-on landlord. For passive owners, who have a management company do all of the work, that is a different story.

Karen: It sounds like you are the managing member of your LLC -- which means, as pointed out by several above, that it likely does not give the protection that you seem to think it does.

Also, companies refusing to give out credit reports of others is PROPER -- it is not "some bogus privacy act." Sheesh.

- John...

Because insurance rates vary so much from place to place, based on so many facotrs, including claims history, my premium is not relevant.

I have no LLC. As an active manager, it would provide no protection to me. Although, if I were willing to commit perjury, I might be able to protect equity in other properties.

If each property is held in its own LLC, and if there is a substantial personal injury in the house at 123 Main Street, then both I and the 123 Main Street LLC would be sued.

If judgment were entered against 123 Main Street LLC only, only the equity in 123 Main Street would be at risk.

But if judgment were entered against me personally, then the equity in 457 Elm Street and the equity in 762 Oak Avenue, and ... would all be at risk. Unless I were to lie sucessfully and say that my only LLC was the 123 Main Street LLC.

By playing with a bunch of trusts and corporations and LLCs, some people have been able to do this. But in the end, it all comes down to be willing to commit perjury to get away with it. So I jusst get enough insurance so that I don't have to play these games and bear false witness.