Question about LLCs for residential mortgages

[Jeff Stevenson]

Hello BP crew,

I'm a new investor about to close on my first property in Albuquerque. I'm financing it as a second home (since I'll occupy some of the time and rent out when I'm not there), through a conventional mortgage. My question is about holding the property under an LLC, as opposed to holding it under my name. I see so many articles about the protective benefits of doing this, but my lender (and other lenders I've asked) say that residential mortgages cannot be held under LLCs (only commercial mortgages can), and that doing so can cause your entire loan to be called at once under penalty of foreclosure.

So are investors just doing this illegally, assuming their loans will never get called...or is there something I'm missing?

My lender advised me to run my investing business as an LLC, keep the property in my name, and then put both the property and the LLC in a trust. Does anyone have experience with this strategy?

Many thanks!

[Ko Kashiwagi]

Hi Jeff,

The ability of the lender to call the loans is due to the Due-On-Sales clause. This clause states that your loan has to be paid in full in case the name of the title change. However, this clause is rarely ever actually called or many lenders will not take action on it. It's up to you whether you want to switch the title into the LLC later, but note that this can also be done through refinancing into a business-purpose financing like a DSCR.