In the five rulings, the Fair Housing Act is probably the most significant. In the end, the law was designed to prevent the discrimination that buyers and sellers face; with its passing, the Fair Housing Act legislation (which was amended in accordance with the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 and is also part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) can be used to safeguard seven kinds of sellers and buyers. These include family status handicap, sex the national origin the color of one's skin, religion and race.

Expectations for Communities Populated by Protected Classes

A majority of people are astonished and unaware of the reality that an agent for real estate has in fact to deny certain requests based on reasons that are against the aforementioned set of laws. For instance in the event that a newlywed Jewish couple asks a broker to locate a home that is close to a synagogue in the majority of an "adults only" neighborhood, he cannot indulge such a request. An agent can't accept any request for a property to be located in one particular church of any faith or denomination. The agent can't so much to promote his listing near the corner of the church or mosque.

Furthermore, an agent is strictly prohibited from answering questions regarding the ethnicity of a specific community. Furthermore, it is illegal to market homes in regions comprised mostly of Caucasians, Native Americans, Indians, African-Americans, or Hispanics. If a client insists on having a home in a mostly Italian area, the agent cannot choose but to decline, regardless of what his customer wants.

Demands for School Districts and Safe Neighborhoods

Because of the sheer number of lawsuits involving real estate, there are presently many other consumer issues that legally savvy and law-abiding real estate agents won't take on or consider. For example, a location in California does not mean that those who reside there will be permitted to enroll their kids in specific school districts.

If a client wants his agent to find him the right home within a particular region, the agent (the realtor) should inquire about the boundaries of the search; the broker should not be the one in charge of determining the boundaries. The agent must also be patient and inform the client that their children may not be admitted to the particular school he'd like. Confirming that a specific school district does not fall within the limits of a realtor's fiduciary responsibilities to the customer and stating the possibility that this action may be regarded as violation of the Fair Housing Act is par for the course.

The Issue: How to Hold Property in California?

Many people invest money daily in real estate. Many hope to be the next real estate entrepreneur but others simply want to boost their income with extra income. Whatever your reasons, owning real estate investment properties can yield massive rewards, but also big issues. This is why it's crucial to secure title to your house in the most effective way. The internet is saturated with various posts and articles touting how to best maintain your property. It is often an overwhelming task to navigate the vast amount of information available in the hope of determining which recommendations are reliable and what tips could land you in trouble. Our intention is to give a concise and precise summary of the best and most secure methods to invest in investment property in California. We hope the results will serve as a helpful base for thinking about the best ways to both safeguard you as the landlord/owner from any liability and guarantee the best possible treatment of your assets.

The Risks of Owning Real Estate

While properties can be a good investment, there are also substantial risks. One of the biggest dangers is lawsuits. From common slip and falls, to environmental contamination Owners and landlords are susceptible to lawsuits. Landlords have also been successfully sued by the victims of crimes -- such as the rape, robberies and even murder, that happen on their property on the grounds that the landlord was not adequately secure.

Options for Holding Real Estate

Faced with the risk of lawsuits, it is crucial that you do not hold investment real estate in your name. (The only real asset you should have in your own name is your primary residence.) There are numerous ways that a person is able to hold property that is not that in their name. They include a corporation or limited partnership, a Limited Liability Company ("LLC") (also known as trust), and many others. Although there are numerous options for real estate investments LLCs are the most popular choice for accountants, lawyers and investors.

A variety of reasons mean that few people invest in real estate investment in C corporations. The corporation shields individuals who own the shares from personal responsibility, but the double taxation of dividends and the inability to have "paper losses" from depreciation flow to the owners make C corporations not suitable for real estate investments.

The past was when limited partners were the legal entities of choice for real estate investors. Limited partners were shielded from personal liability while also being able to take passed taxes (subject to IRS regulations--you'll need an accountant or lawyer to resolve the issues of at-risk limitations and the like) on the land. The main drawback with limited partnership was that one had to be the general partner in order to expose himself to unlimited personal liability.

Many small real estate investors also own properties through the form of trust. While trusts are vital to protect an owners' privacy and also provides plan-of-death treatment however, it offers nothing in terms of protection from legal liability. Although a trust doesn't provide any liability protection and is not a liability shield, it should not be ignored since http://dallasstgi367.jigsy.com/entries/general/10-compelling-reasons-why-you-need-realtor-com it can easily be paired to an LLC.

1. Benefits of a LLC

LLCs seem to be the most suitable option for holding investment real estate. Unlike limited partnerships, LLCs don't require a general partner that is at risk of liability. Instead, all LLC members, also known as members are protected by limit on liability. LLCs are in addition superior to C corporations as they don't have the double taxation that corporations face while retaining complete limit liability for every member. In addition, LLCs are simple and inexpensive to form.

A. One LLC or Multiple LLCs?

If you own several properties, the question will be whether to manage all of the properties in one LLC or to establish another LLC for each additional property. For a variety reasons, it is usually recommended to establish a separate LLC for each property.

First, having a separate LLC possessing each separate property helps to prevent "spillover" liability from one property to the next. Imagine you own two properties worth $500,000 each and they're in an LLC. If a tenant is injured at property 1 and receives a judgment for $750,000 in the court, he'll have the right to levy each property for the full $750,000 even though property 2 had nothing to do with the plaintiff's injuries.

On the other hand, If each property had its own LLC, then the creditor could only impose an obligation to the property where the plaintiff suffered injury (assuming that they could not penetrate that corporate veil).

Additionally, many banks and creditor require separate LLCs for every property. They want the loaned property to get "bankruptcy remote". In other words, the bank doesn't want a trouble at a different property to jeopardize their security interest in the property they're lending money to.

2. Benefits of a Trust

As previously mentioned An LLC can be used with a trust to provide the best security and estate protection for your property. There are various types of trusts but the irrevocable trust is the most well-known and efficient to hold legal title over real estate. The most significant benefit of holding the property in trust is that the property does not go through probate at the time of your death. Many people are aware that probate can be a formal process overseen by a judge for the transfer of assets and assets to beneficiaries listed in one's will. The advantages of avoiding probate are numerous. The distribution of property held by the living trust may be considerably faster than probate. the assets of a living trust can be made more easily for the beneficiary of the trust to access them, and the cost of distributing assets held in a living trust is typically less than going through probate. Note: It is important to be aware of other options to stay clear of probate. For example, property as joint tenants with a right of survivorship automatically avoids probate, regardless of whether or not you are in the living trust. Talk to an estate planning lawyer for more advice regarding probate-related issues.]

3. Use Both an LLC and a Trust

Since an LLC and a trust both give significant benefits to an owner of real estate A smart investor ought to consider using both a LLC and a trust to secure himself and his property. Utilizing both a trust and an LLC will give you the best mix of liability protection as well as favorable estate planning. For this to be achieved, the person who owns the investment property in a single-member LLC as well as the trust being alone member of this LLC. In this case, the trust is the owner of the company and also holds all rights in the LLC. This type of ownership provides you additional security from the LLC as well as advantages of estate planning with a trust.

A. Costs

For the most part, the cost of forming, and maintaining an LLC and trust are fairly low. In the case of an average LLC cost, it