The Association conducts
seminars on the use of LLCs. It is typically presented by attorneys Heiner
Giese and Mike Mesirow. I consider these guys to be two of the top attorneys
around for these matters. Heiner handles much of my more involved legal
work and strategy. Mr Mesirow primary practice is defending liability
cases when they are beyond the scope of insurance companies in house counsel.
Call the AASEW at (414) 276-9637 for details
CCH has a good series
of articles on how to structure your business and general Asset Protection
Best Practices
When forming an LLC
today best practices dictates putting one property per LLC with an additional
"umbrella" management LLC so that all of your bills and all
of your tenant payments can be run through a single account. A mistake
made by many of the early adopters, including myself, was to cluster properties
into small groups. With one property per LLC you limit your exposure to
the equity and liability of one property rather than the collective equity
and liability of the entire group of properties.
While you can easily
create
an LLC on line through the state, the second and equally important
aspect of an LLC is having a well drafted operating agreement that offers
further protections permitted under the law. For the best results at
the lowest cost hire an attorney who is experienced in LLCs rather than
a general practitioner to draft such an agreement. If you don't have
an attorney with such experience I recommend Heiner Giese, a former
AASEW board member and fellow rental property owner. In addition to
doing work for the Association he does a lot of our company's legal
work.
Limited Liability
Companies Must File Annual Reports Beginning In 2004
The recent state
budget bill passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor will
require Domestic Limited Liability Companies to file an annual report
with the Department. The filing will be similar to that required for
business corporations.
Beginning in January
2004, LLC's will have a report filing date based upon the quarter
of the year of organization. Annual reports will be mailed to the
registered agent at the registered office address as listed with the
Department. The reports will be distributed by the Department on the
first month of each quarter. As an example, a Limited Liability Company
which organized in the months of January, February, or March would
be required to file a report with a due date of March 31st; LLC's
organized in April, May, or June would be required to file a report
with a due date of June 30th; LLC's organized in July, August or September
would be required to file a report with a due date of September 30th;
LLC's organized in October, November, or December would be required
to file a report with a due date of December 31st.
