How to anonymize without an LLC?

Question

Hi everyone - this is my first post, but I've read a bunch on here already, and have gained a lot of valuable insight.  Thank you!

I'm a relative newbie - we own 5 rentals with traditional conventional financing, no LLC, and a good umbrella policy.  We eventually plan to move the properties into an LLC (or multiple LLC's), but in the meantime, are looking for a way to anonymize our interactions with tenants.

Our short term concern is that tenants know our full names, phone numbers, addresses, etc.  It’s very personal and clearly not a “business.”  Our goal is to operate as a professional business, so ideally, we would like to make the following changes:

-Have a company name, so that I can be “Jesse with ____ Properties,” rather than Jesse the owner and landlord
-Have a business phone line (google voice)
-Use a PO Box. I don’t want any crazy tenants stopping by the house. Can you use a PO Box on a lease?

Is there a way to achieve this without having the properties in an LLC? I've seen some of the following options, but I'm not sure if any are really viable:

-Start a Property Management S-Corp or LLC-Register a DBA - can you do this as a sole-proprietor?-Any other options?  I'm curious what people do for this

Thanks in advance - you all are awesome!!!

Thomas S. · Answer

You can defiantly set up a company name but all you really need is a business card with the information on it that you want tenants to use. The reality is that in this day and age there is no way to prevent tenants from finding out all the information they desire about owners/landlords.

You should always introduce yourself to new tenants as the owner by name. Hiding is not realistic especially in light of the fact that you require the tenant to fully identify themselves. It is only fair that they know who their landlord/owner truly if you are not truly a legitimate corporation.

Robert Gilstrap · Answer

Owning property in your personal name is a recipe for disaster for dozens of reasons but anonymity is certainly one of them. Transfer properties to a land trust with LLC as beneficiary of trust.  Either hire professional mgmt or start operating like a business.

Matthew Olszak · Answer

@Jesse Fisher @JR T. makes a good point about trusts, BUT, unless you purchase in the name of the trust, and any mortgages are in the trust's name, it'll be clear who the owner is (you) with minimal research. If your concern is that the tenants will know who you are, consider the cost of property management vs. the fees associated w/ registering and maintaining an LLC or DBA. It might be close enough that it makes sense to pay a hair more to have someone else deal with them all together.

Besides that, I am a strong advocate of keeping-it-real with your tenant. If you are the owner, no need to hide. Any good litigation attorney will be able to uncover who you are if they want to sue for big $, so the only 'benefit' to shielding your identity is having less confrontations, which in my opinion is unnecessary if you run your business properly. You could use a PO box to hide your address, and someone with enough spite could sit right there and wait for you to come around and follow you home, or find out where you work, or follow our family, etc.

JR T. · Answer

PO Boxes now allow you to use the physical address of the post office with the box number as a suite number.

You can start an LLC or file a DBA and start using a company name without changing who owns the properties. That company's business is simply managing properties you own personally.  DBA (doing business as) is the filing you make and advertise to do business as a sole proprietor. Once you do that and get a tax ID you can get bank accounts in just the company name (if you ask for it the bank will default to your name dba company name) for security deposit refunds, business expenses etc.

To anonymize the ownership of the properties consider living trusts. The title will go into the trust name and when you die the trust will automatically convey title to your beneficiaries. This structure doesn't afford liability protection so you need to keep up your insurance, but it's great for if someone looks up the owner of 123 First Street only to find it's owned by First Street Trust with your PO Box for mailing.