House Title for LLC Creation

[Jennifer Sui]

In a few months I will be moving out of the townhome I own, and will be renting it out. I plan to create an LLC for this property. Will I need to have the house re-titled into the name of the LLC? Or can I leave it in my name? Thanks for any advice!

[Scott M.]

'Will I need to". No, you won't need to but I would wonder why you went through the time/expense (not a lot of either but still) of creating one if you are not going to use it. Unless you are only using it to have the tenants pay a 3rd party. If that is the case would be cheaper to set up a DBA.

Also depends if you own free and clear or if you have a mortgage and what your mortgage says about changing the title owner. If they don't allow it then it depends on your risk tolerance of getting caught.  While the odds of the mortgage company catching you are extremely low, you never know.  So best to know what happens if you do so you can make an educated decision.  So read your mortgage too.  

If you own free and clear you can put in the LLC.

This leads to the discussion of should you vs do you need to put it in the LLC and for that answer you won't get one here. Yes, it offers you some protections. No it is a waste of money. No you don't need it but get insurance (as if that is mutually exclusive).

Talk to your tax person / lawyer for the best guidance on if you should move it into an llc or not.