All Forum Posts by: Jerry W.

@Stephanie Menard, I have been an attorney for over 36 years with about half of that being a prosecuting attorney.  First I have to agree with @Russell Brazil that you have a lazy cop.  I would definitely go directly into the police department or try to get a call to make a report directly.  Officers all too often think the know the law simply because they wear a badge, when they actually know a lot less than most folks.  It is likely the officer was being lazy, otherwise you wouldn't have the it's not in your lease statement.  It is also possible that either the folks in charge of the station, or the prosecutor have set a policy of not wanting to pursue non violent crimes, or even not paying attention to crimes against folks who are not local residents.  The fact is that anyone who takes, leads, or carries away the property of another with the intent to convert it to their own use or deprive the owner of it is committing a crime.  Saying it wasn't in the lease or @Kevin Sobilo saying it just comes down to one person's word against another would negate virtually every crime.   After all rape is just the word of the victim that it was not consensual sex, breaking and entering, well the door was already broken, every theft, every credit card fraud, well the owner said I could.  Yes, lazy cop and or lazy boss or lazy prosecutor.  I have found the best way to get attention is to go the press and be very loud about the lazy or indifferent system.  I have had several cases where I finally got cops or government officials to only do their job after being very loud to the newspapers, but it does work.  

Make sure they know you plan to publicly point out to the local newspapers, Mayor's Office, and anyone who will be campaigning against them, just how stupid and lazy they are.  I would write a letter to the editor talking about the corruption or laziness of the cop, his boss and the Chief of Police.  I hate to be this way but publicity works.  Too bad the election is over, because loud stinky letters to the press really work well during election season.

Anyway, you have my condolences.  I am ashamed that we have folks like that wearing the badge or holding the office.  Maybe they can get unelected or fired.

Sorry for the rant.  No hehe I guess I am not sorry about it.

@Fakaradin Floyd, congratulations.  I just opened my 6th str last year.  I hope to open at least 1 more this year, maybe 2.  It is scary, but fun.  Best wishes for the new year to you.  Remember to celebrate your success.

@Michelle P. Brown, I obviously don't use other registered agents so @Nathan Gesner suggestion is pretty good.  Merry Christmas BTW

@Satyajeet Dodia, I agree if possible you should have your properties owned by an LLC. I do NOT think having an operating LLC located in a different state than the ones owned is overkill. For most people getting an LLC is relatively cheap. Less than $500. The important part is operating it properly. A lot of folks don't take the time to educate themselves on how to do that. There are benefits to having a second LLC over the first. I have never gone that far myself. The cost of renewing an LLC or changing the title is absurdly cheap unless you have one of those law firms that advertise a lot and have a huge advertising department and claim to have a secret sauce that guarantees protection. It costs less than $200 to file an LLC in WY. It costs around than $100 to change title on a property in WY, less if you do it yourself. I don't think I have a single insurance policy less than$800 that I can think of. The annual cost of doing my LLC in WY is usually $200, less than my checking account fees. I still never put less than $500K liability insurance on any house, and more on apartments.

Lawsuits do happen. Not a lot, but they are much more likely to happen than getting hit by lightning. An LLC is just one more shield of many you should have. The main one is running your business well.

In my experience better than 80% of lawsuits are settled out of court.  The main reason is people get massively stressed and fear a multi-million dollar settlement and so agree to settle for a few hundred Thousand dollars.  I have seen it multiple times.  One was the steps were a few inches off of code in height, and the railing broke when the guy fell.  The guy was over 300 pounds and had been drinking.  The lawsuit was for over 2 million.  The settl4ement was private, but I bet it was at least $400k knowing the attorney's involved, maybe more.  Just make sure the cost of your protection doesn't rob your profit.  Make it reasonable.

Hopefully this helps.

@Paul Sanders, just a few thoughts. First good old politicking, find all of the other owners who can vote and see if they will agree to vote with you to allow STR or even to amend the bylays. Legally you can claim estoppel and latches as a defense as they let it go on for so many years and you relied on it when buying. Third pack the board with your allies and vote it in.

@Robert Loebl, a lot depends on how you buy.  If you finance the entire purchase price it is dam hard to find a deal that even breaks even.  If you put 25% down like the banks want you can at least break even or make a little on good deals.  How do you buy?  Right now you won't get financing at less than 7% maybe a lot higher.  That means the 1% rule will lose money, especially if you are paying 9% or higher.  I cannot buy a property right now and cash flow, or even break even without a huge down payment.

I have done this in the past.  There are numerous ways to do it.  One rate for just renting the stall or enclosure, another price if you supply feed, yet another price if you want them in an inside stall like a large barn, etc.  There is always a substantial liability to keep in mind you should get specific insurance, and tons of disclaimers and permission slips.  Will you be responsible for trimming feet, doing shots, wormer, exercise, what if the horse gets sick, what if a horse brings in something like vesticular stomatitus, and all the horses get it?  What if a horse gets wire cut, or bitten by another horse, what if the veterinarian bill will be $10K what are you supposed to do?  What if the person never comes back for the horse?  What if the horse hurts someone or another horse?  Lots to think about and prepare for.

Just make sure the general partners are a corporate entity, not you personally.  Otherwise there is no reason to add the partnership.

@Daisy Hawkins, if you are going to sell the property make very sure it is a good tax move.  By changing the ownership you might be changing your tax from a long term capital gains tax, to a short term capital gains tax which is a really bad thing.  Short erm capital gain taxes are for properties owned less than 1 year.  Double check that.

@Rene Hosman, how did I not know about the add free service?  That is embarrassing.