Remaining Anonymous As The Owner Checks Payable To Whom?

[Patrick Q.]

Hi All,

I am a soon to become landlord.

I am going to self manage.

I will be house hacking and therefore my face will be known to the folks renting the 2nd unit.

I would prefer if possible for them not to know that I am the property owner.

The main thing that would give away that I am the owner is when rent payments are made by the tenants.

The property is owned in my personal name.

Does anybody have an advice on how I could try to keep the fact that I am the property owner private from the tenants?

Could the business bank account (s) that I set up be such that the checks are not written out to my personal name?

[Mike McCarthy]

@Patrick Q.I wouldn’t worry too much about it. You’ll find yourself actively trying to keep the secret which will get harder and harder over time.

I don’t volunteer that info to my tenants, but I don’t hide it either. If they ask, I tell them. Regardless, it’ll be up to you to keep them at arms distance.

But if you do want to have checks payable to someone other than yourself, set up a DBA. Basically it's a legal filing through your state, which usually costs around $50 to create a ‘fictitious name'. There's no corporate structure or anything, but you can then add the DBA company name to your bank, and open an account in its name.

Also, as a side note, don’t collect checks. Use an online rent collection service - which will often ‘hide’ your name a bit as well.