Setting up an LLC in Michigan

[Jason Rogers]

I am trying to get my first rental under contract. Two questions:

1. Should I just purchase in my name before establishing an LLC and then Quit Claim it to the LLC or is it safer to just file the LLC first and purchase through the entity?

2. Anything Michigan specific I should know pertaining to LLC creation??

Thanks for any input!!

[Joshua B.]

@Jason Rogers Bear in mind that an LLC doesn't do you any good if you don't treat it like its own business. Just putting a property in an LLC isn't enough. You need to run the business of that property through the LLC that owns the property. Funding repairs out of your own pocket or another entity, making mortgage payments from your personal account, taking rent checks into a different account, etc, can allow the corporate veil to be pierced. That means if you get sued, courts won't give you the liability protection that an LLC normally affords. Make sure the LLC has its own bank account, that receivables/payables go through that account, and that you keep good corporate/legal records.