All Forum Posts by: John Clark

"John was just rude to be rude and not even provoked. You don't call somebody "son" as if lecturing somebody. That is just like saying "right boy". "

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I, too, am a lawyer with over thirty years experience. I mentioned before that discovery would have your client out. Discovery includes subpoens. In my bailiwick, even a $10k lawsuit would no be stopped, becaust court costs (e.g., subpoenas) get recouped.

There is no magic bullet for preventing liability. You presented a "magic bullet." For those of us who have practiced law for decades and understand its uses and limitations, that presents a "boy" attitude as far as I am concerned.

Your path throws up MINOR roadblocks, @Brian Bradley but that is all. And as has been posted before, the full structuring of your client's corporate liability evasion wil be on full display at closing argument the instant you say that your client really and deeply cared for the welfare of his tenants and no. your client had no incentive to cut corners.

Yes, "boy" is an insult. It is also an indication of where one's ignorance lies.

BEFORE YOU BUY:  E-mail  the City's buildings department and ask them how it would handle the situation. It may say rget it rezoned and we're jake, or it may say "we want to press violations, fast and furious." Don't give the address, just ask in general.

Sounds like a good leverage point for reducing the price.

Like I said -- hystrionic responses that fail to address the merits of the case against you.

I notice that "100s" of years of experience" is not the same as 100 years of experience. 50 years of 1st year lawyers rumbling through  motion practice is not, AS YOU WELL KNIOW, the same as  two 25 year experience lawyers doing litigation and discovery.

"nuff said. when you want to address the merits, stop whining and do so.

Folks, the rents are several hundred dollars above market rate.  Figure that in to your analysies before you post. Preserve the conditions that allow such above market rates, THAT MEANS CURING HEALTH ISSUES. We know that aesctetic (sp) issues are not relevant.

@Brian Bradley

Brian, hate to break this to you, but you are not the only lawyer posting on this forum. I stand by my legal  - - lawyerly or not -- analysis, and note that your hystrionic responses do not address the merits of my analysis. Series LLCs and other corporate entities are easily broken, and liability depends on corporate/individuals ties. I have seen it done for over the past thirty years. You?

"As mentioned earlier, the triplex is gross (carpets are gross, kitchens are old, bathrooms are mildewy, etc). The units are dilapidated."

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Dilapidated and worn is not a health issue. Mildew, mold, water leakage, lead paint, rotting carpets, etc., IS a health issue. You say that the tenants like where they live.

Fix all the health issues. That not only keeps you one step ahead of the health department, but gives you tenants loyal for life, which is a huge plus.

"@Brian Bradley You get the mortgage in your personal name first...

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Thereby indelibly linking your identity to the land, making you a defendant in any suit. From there it is CHEAP short work to issue discovery and find out that you have a benficial interest in the LLC and/or land trust.

Sorry, son, but you ain't sayin' nothin' that even remotely helps individuals escape liability with that one.

"@John D. How does that work with a conventional mortgage"

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Simple, the LLC pledges title, you pledge to pay the mortgage. Somewhere along the line, you swear that you are the beneficial owner of the LLC. That information (beneficial ownership) may or may not be in the recorded mortgage, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the lawyers will find out in discovery against the LLC and the land trustee, and join you to the suit.

Once they join you to the suit, they will demand knowledge of your assets, and that includes assets in which you have a beneficial interest -- that's how they find out about any other LLCs. The whole thing is then rolled up with additional defendants added, and -- if proper corporate form hasn't been observed, or if all of the disparate entities were treated as one for other purposes (bank loans, etc) -- your personal liability goes through the roof.

Like someone else here said, you can run but you can't hide. You may make it too expensive for the other side to bother to get you, but that is doubtful. Too much of a paper trail.

"The fact is that not all LLCs are the same. Some are just better for asset protection then others. The best LLC structure is the Series LLC. Like any good parent, we want to protect our children. This is accomplished with the Series LLC by isolating each asset into individual series called "children series" for liability purposes inside a holding company, the parent Series LLC. And then we protect our children even more by hiding those children from being connected to the holding company with an anonymity land trust. This system (Series LLC with Anonymity Land Trust) allows you to stop a lawsuit before it is started, by taking away the chance of recovery. Though the Series LLC is one company, with one filing with the state, and one tax return, each child âseries' is treated as if it were its own LLC for liability protection."

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The LLCs have to be registered with the secretary of state. That will show your connection between the companies. If proper corporate form was not followed, the corporate veil can be pierced.

"Think before YOU write. How is Boston going to collect money from rentals done by Craigslist? "

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@Paul Sandhu, I did think before I wrote. Since Craigslist doesn't take a cut of the transaction (unlike Airbnb), the money comes from the host. What Craigslist CAN do is not permit the posting until CL has matched the host's information to the list of Boston-registered hosts. Not on Boston's list? Can't post. Boston can collect the information from CL and enforce.  AirBnB has a specialized, limited, hosting platform and takes a cut from the host and the guest. One's an apple, the other's an orange.

As for a flat tax, that's possible, although a per diem tax allows hosts who don't want to maximize rentals every year to get in on the action.