Archive for category LLC's

LLC’s – PART 2: How To Insure They Protect You From Personal Liability

Nov 4

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, LLC's | No Comments

In my October 28, 2009 post entitled LLC’s – Part 1: Why You Should Consider Using Them To Hold Your Rental Property,  I indicated that in the near future I would write a second post on LLC’s and include a link to the outline that I drafted and presented to the AASEW membership at the October monthly meeting.  My portion of the presentation on LLC’s focused on the following topics:

1.     General information on business entities (corporations, partnerships etc.) and how they are distinct from an individual person.

2.     How those general principles apply to LLC’s.

3.   What is “piercing the corporate veil” or “disregarding the corporate fiction” and what are the various tests and factors that courts look at when evaluating whether or not they should hold an individual liable for the actions or debts of the LLC under the “alter ego” theory.

You can read my outline here.

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LLC’s – PART 1: Why You Should Consider Using Them To Hold Your Rental Property

Oct 28

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, Investing In Rental Property, LLC's | 1 Comment

 
The AASEW’s October monthly membership meeting focused on the issue of LLC’s and why you should consider using this business entity to hold your rental properties.   Attorney Lydia Chartre of Petrie and Stocking S.C. spoke to the membership about several issues related to LLC’s including:
 
-  Why create an LLC?
 
-  Steps to create an LLC
 
-  Information that an attorney will need to assist you in creating an LLC
 
This meeting had the largest turnout of any AASEW membership meeting in the last 2 years — we had more than 70 people.  Both prior to the meeting and afterwords I received several telephone calls from people that wanted to attend the meeting but were unable to do so.  Because of this I have decided to post Atty. Chartre’s outline that was distributed to everyone in attendance at the meeting.  While you missed a great presentation from my law partner, Lydia, at least you will have the “nuts and bolts” of her presentation. Read the rest of this entry »

FREE SEMINAR ON LLC’S – WHY YOU NEED THEM AND HOW TO INSURE THEY PROTECT YOU FROM PERSONAL LIABILITY

Oct 15

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, LLC's, Seminars | No Comments

Lydia Chartre and I will be presenting a free seminar at the AASEW’s October monthly meeting on October 19, 2009 at 7 pm.  The meeting will be held at the Best Western Midway Hotel which is located at 1005 S. Moorland Road in Brookfield.

Lydia and I will be speaking on LLC’s and why you should consider using this form of business entity to hold your rental property and what you must do when handling your LLC to insure that your personal assets are protected.

Lydia will be discussing the nuts and bolts of  LLC’s including:

- Why you may want to form an LLC to hold your rental property

- The necessary steps to form an LLC

- Information that you (or an attorney) will need to form your LLC

I will speak on the topic of what formalities you will need to follow when handling your LLC to insure that your personal assets will be protected.  While the general law is that an LLC — just like a corporation – is a separate and distinct entity from its  individual members, there are instances where courts have allowed an injured party or a creditor to “pierce the corporate veil” or hold the individual personally liable for the actions and/or debts of the LLC.  Read the rest of this entry »

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MILWAUKEE CO. SMALL CLAIMS COURT’S NEW POLICY REGARDING WHO MAY APPEAR IN COURT ON BEHALF OF A LLC WENT INTO EFFECT SEPTEMBER 1st.

Sep 2

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Evictions, LLC's | No Comments

I was attending the regular monthly meeting of Milwauke RING (Real Estate Investors Networking Group) last night and during the “open mic” portion of the meeting I reminded everyone that Milwaukee County Small Claims Court’s new policy regarding who may appear in court (i.e. sign court documents and appear in court) went into effect yesterday, September 1, 2009.  As I was walking back to my seat two people asked me what that would mean.  After the meeting several landlords that own a large number of rental properties also approached me and said they had never heard of this new policy.

Because of this major change and the fact that many people either are not aware of it or do not understand the change I thought it would be prudent to explain what this new policy is before some unsuspecting landlord or management company ends up having their eviction lawsuit dismissed. Read the rest of this entry »

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Update On Who May Represent A LLC in Eviction Court: New Rules To Start September 1st

Jul 30

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Evictions, LLC's | 2 Comments

Those of you that have been following my blog are aware that Milwaukee County Small Claims Court has indicated that it will not allow non-attorneys to represent LLC’s in court in the near future.

My earlier posts on this topic can be read here and here.

A fellow board member from the AASEW informed me today that one of the owner’s of a property he manages was handed the notice that I reproduced in my earlier post (you can read it here here), as he was leaving small claims court.  The notice indicated that he would no longer be allowed to represent his LLC’s in small claims court as of September 1, 2009.

He indicated to the commisioner that handed him the notice that he was a full-time employee of the LLC and therefore can appear on behalf of the LLC in small claims court as allowed under Sec. 799.06(2) of the Wisconsin Statutes.  The court commissioner’s reply was something to the effect that, ” I see you down here [small claims court] a lot, and you have many LLC’s.  There is no way that you can be a full-time employee of all of them or you would have to work hundreds of hours per week.”

This issue seems to coming to a head very soon.  Unless you are a full-time employee of an LLC, and you have written records to prove this, it looks as if September 1, 2009, will be the deadline by which you will need to have made arrangements to have an attorney represent your LLC’s in Milwaukee County Small Claims Court or risk having your case either adjourned or dismissed.

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Milwaukee County to Post Notice on Who Can File and Appear in Court on Eviction Actions

Jul 21

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Evictions, LLC's | 3 Comments

A friend of mine who is an employee at the courthouse and does much work in small claims court, and more specifically eviction court, forwarded to my attention earlier today a copy of a notice that will soon be posted in Room 400 (Eviction Court) and Room 104 (Clerk of Courts) of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

The notice addresses the issues of who may sign an eviction summons and complaint and who may appear in court on an eviction lawsuit.

The notice that will be posted reads as follows:

_____________________

PLEASE NOTE

 In Small Claims Eviction cases, you may only sign complaints and appear in court on behalf of a property owner if you are one of the following:

  • The property owner (if the property is not owned by a corporation/limited liability corporation)
  • A full time employee of the property owner
  • An attorney

Employees of management companies or other outside service providers may not sign complaints or appear on behalf of property owners 

__________________

If this notice is going to be posted then it appears as if the clerks, court commissioners and judges will be dismissing eviction lawsuits that violate the above notice.

To read my earlier posts on these topics just click here and here.

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MILWAUKEE CO. TO REQUIRE LLCs TO BE REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY

May 15

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Evictions, LLC's | No Comments

It has recently come to my attention that Milwaukee County small claims court will in the very near future prohibit any individual other than a lawyer to represent a LLC’s in court. This would mean that a landlord that owns his rental property in an LLC would no longer be able to appear in court to pursue his/her eviction case against a tenant. This is a change from how things have operated in the past and also different from what the law says in my opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

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