Legal to perform elec and plumbing work for MMLLC property?

[Zac Huntley]

Hi everyone,

I have been a long-time lurker and have listened to a boatload of BP podcasts over the past three years. Two years ago, my family finally went forward with purchasing a rental property. However, after demo and planning stages, it was evident that our local trades (elec, plumbing, etc) were way beyond our budget, with little competition in our rural area. 

I am well-versed in electrical work, as well as some plumbing, but neither are my legal profession. I know that in MN, a business held as a rental cannot have work performed on it, outside of general contracting, by non-bonded/licensed contractors (i.e. it's illegal to do the electrical/plumbing/HVAC in a non-personally-owned property if you aren't a licensed contractor for those trades). 

The building is currently held in a partnership LLC with my mother as 100% owner alongside a single 0% silent partner. My wife and I (non-owners) are the intended occupants of the building when it is finished, but since the building is in an LLC, as far as I know we cannot perform any work on it (outside of the general contracting, which we are doing ourselves).

I'm wondering if there is any workarounds for this so that we can treat this property as "our home" in order to complete some of this work? Putting myself/my wife as 100% owners in the partnership is a possibility, but if that still doesn't make this "kosher" then it's not really going to help much. 

Is there any way we can pull this off without transferring the property (which still has a commercial note on it) to ourselves personally?

Thanks much for any input. I feel like I'm in a bit of a pickle here. 

-Z