All Forum Posts by: Sean Morrison

I've been using Hubspot, and love it. But am migrating to Zoho CRM. I'm moving because I'm ready for the paid stuff, and Zoho has a whole suite of software (from social media to work flows to appointment scheduling) and they all integrate with each other.

Disclaimer: I am an attorney, but I am not your attorney. This is not legal advice, just friendly information.

Putting a property into an LLC makes it an asset of the LLC. Therefore, unless there was documentation separating it as a capital contribution or some other thing, it would be owned by all owners of the LLC.

Second, as a general rule, real estate holding LLCs should be created in the same state as the property. While some states have better protections for LLCs than others, when it comes to real estate courts only want to recognize local protections.

Disclaimer: I am an attorney, but I am not your attorney. This is not legal advice, just friendly information.

For any trust there are three parties: the grantor, the trustee, and the beneficiary. Of course, each party can be multiple people or entities, and one person can have many roles. But the trust will have these three parties.

The grantor creates and funds the trust; the trustee manages the trust; and the beneficiary enjoys the fruits of the trust.

So, the grantor is whoever created and funded the trust.

The Schedule C will show both the EIN and your SSN. It's not a separate return, just an outline of your business.

Disclaimer: I am an attorney, but I am not your attorney. This is not legal advice, just friendly information. 

Just a quick note about charging order protection, which is being thrown around a lot here. There is no one-size-fits all answer.

First, all states have charging orders as a remedy. And the vast majority have it as the exclusive remedy.

Second, that remedy often breaks down when it is a single-member LLC. A few states (like DE and WY) have made clear that charging orders are the exclusive remedy even for SMLLCs.

However, while the general rule is that a state should uphold the laws of another state's LLC, that's not always true when it comes to real estate. Because states like to keep control over land in their jurisdiction, many states will only apply local LLC protections, and ignore those fancy WY or DE laws.

Finally, if you have a WY holding company that owns a Louisiana LLC with property (where charging orders are not the exclusive remedy), that Louisiana LLC does not magically gain an exclusive remedy protection. That LA LLC could be subject to foreclosure.

Disclaimer: I am an attorney, but I am not your attorney. This is not legal advice, just friendly information.

Typically, in a holding company scenario, the holding company is the sole member of the child LLCs (though it could partner with somebody else of course). The child LLC owns the property, has the mortgage, and manages the property. The holding company is usually a shell company, not doing any work, just holding investments in the child companies. If the holding company gets involved with the property day-to-day, then it could be held liable, which defeats the whole purpose.

Disclaimer: I am an attorney, but I am not your attorney. This is not legal advice, just friendly information.

One of the great things about LLCs is their flexibility. An LLC can hold many properties, or just one. LLCs act as a silo - limiting liability to those assets within the LLC. Multiple properties within a single LLC will be subject to judgments against that LLC. It's really a question of risk tolerance.

There are an infinite number of ways to set up a partnership. The key is to agree on the investments, the duties, the payouts, and the organization ahead of time. People love the "one-page" contract, but that just means they haven't considered everything. Talk out some scenarios and put down your solutions on paper. Bring that to an attorney and they can create a partnership agreement (or operating agreement, or however you are structured) that protects both of you.

Disclaimer: I am an attorney, but I am not your attorney. This is not legal advice, just friendly information.

This is a question people ask every day. An LLC can be an important part of an asset protection plan, but whether you need it depends on your portfolio and your risk tolerance. There are only three things we can do with risk:

1. Insure it
2. Mitigate it (with things like LLCs)
3. Accept it

And if you’re not doing the first two, then you are by default doing the third.

Disclaimer: I am an attorney, but I am not your attorney. This is not legal advice, just friendly information.

This is a question people ask every day. An LLC can be an important part of an asset protection plan, but whether you need it depends on your portfolio and your risk tolerance. There are only three things we can do with risk:

1. Insure it
2. Mitigate it (with things like LLCs)
3. Accept it

And if you’re not doing the first two, then you are by default doing the third.