Co-mingling of Funds? Whats the big deal?

[Jack Barkow]

Hey BP,

So I just started with my first property in January of this year. I have it in my name currently (No LLC or anything else just yet). I'm having this property managed by a professional property manager. I'm getting feedback from friends that I need to open a separate bank account ASAP for them to deposit rents (minus management fees and expenses) into since co-mingling in my personal bank account is a bad idea.

Could anyone shed some further light on why this is such a problem? I know its not good if you have properties in an LLC, but I'm not fully understanding the problem currently. Additionally, what is the damage in already having had deposits of profits direct deposited into my personal checking account?

If/When (more like when) I open up a separate bank account for my rental income to be deposited into are there any specific rules for transferring it back to my personal account?  My personal account is going to be the account I'm going to use for funding new deals with anyways.

Any help is appreciated.  Thanks!  

[Christopher Phillips]

@Jack Barkow

Is the money going directly to you or to the management company first?

If it goes to the company first, and then they send you the net proceeds each month, it doesn't really matter.