Transferring Your Deed Into Your LLC

Thinking about transferring the deed to your rental property into a limited liability company? Many investors do it. About 17% of investment properties across the country are held in LLCs.

Here, we look at reasons to put real estate into an LLC, and how it’s done. And we’ll point to a few more things worth knowing about deeding a home to your LLC.

Why an LLC?

Why do property owners transfer deeds into LLCs?

The key benefit is in the name: limited liability.

Every day, rental businesses get sued over unpredictable incidents. A renter or guest or anyone else who experiences problems with a property or services can always sue. A careful deed holder uses a well-written lease, and directs renters to buy liability coverage and renters’ insurance.

As an investor continues to acquire deeds, the stakes get higher. The more risks deed holders take on, the more exposed their personal assets become. Deed holders with two or more investment properties often decide to create multiple LLCs. This walls in the liability for each property. What happens at rental property, then, doesn’t put an entire portfolio of properties at stake.  

Note the new anti-money laundering rules in effect for LLCs. Owners must report certain information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Heads up: Your state might have a version of this new reporting law!

Each LLC can limit your potential liability to the total you’ve invested in the home. As your business has primary responsibility, you can keep your personal liability shielded to some extent. Without the LLC, if a court holds you liable, your personal accounts may be exposed to a judgment.

But, you might ask, if my LLC is a pass-through entity, it’s not entirely separated from my personal identity and assets, right? Yes. This is why a prudent investor always:

• Holds funds in two separate bank accounts. Avoids commingling personal and business funds.

• Takes out a general liability policy for each rental unit. This makes sense whether the properties are held in an individual’s name, or an LLC’s.

Ask your insurance broker about suitable personal, general, and umbrella policies.

What About the Mortgage?

Transferring the deed from your own name to the name of your LLC? Look out; you could be triggering the due-on-sale clause in your mortgage. Will your lender demand immediate and full loan repayment? That depends on the lender and language in your loan documents.

It’s best to speak with the mortgage servicer well in advance of the deed transfer. Explain what type of deed you plan to use. A quitclaim, or another type of deed? Be sure you’re on the same page.

Got a title policy? Find out if you need an endorsement to keep it on the home.

As a general rule, naming a new owner means getting a new homeowner’s insurance policy. Similarly, lenders may direct owners to refinance any property whose deed changes from one owner (you) to another (your LLC). For a new loan, the rates and terms will be different. Deed holders should brace themselves for fees. They should prepare to pay higher down payments, and navigate steeper interest rates for loans on LLC-held properties.

And remember to check the  tax impacts when a loan belongs to your company. If you put your mortgage into the LLC, the bank may ask for your signature on a personal guarantee to back your LLC’s debt.  

Deed My Own Residence to My LLC?

Why do people hold primary residences in LLCs? They often want to keep their personal details off the tax records. But, as we know, the main plus of deeding real estate into an LLC involves liability. This is typically not a consideration for a deed holder’s own home.

Ask your tax professional if a transfer into an LLC rules out tax breaks like the principal residence tax exclusion.

What’s the Section 121 exclusion? When you go to sell your primary residence, the IRS does not tax profits — currently up to a limit of $250K per taxpayer.

Mortgage interest is tax deductible for a primary residence. Not so for an LLC.  

Yet another drawback? You might have pricier insurance coverage when the home is titled in the LLC’s name. And you may lose out on a homestead exemption.

So, LLCs are common with investor-owners who manage multiple properties. In contrast, for primary residences, trusts may work better to protect assets and family goals.

Deeding Residential Properties Into LLCs: Checklist

Transferring the deed from yourself to your LLC takes planning. You might review this basic checklist. Then seek professional guidance through this significant change to the status of your deed.

• Get a good lawyer with local real estate and business experience on your side. Have an operating agreement written for your LLC.

• Obtain a certificate of good standing for an LLC for real estate. Your state might require this.

• Review your current deed, looking for any restrictions that prevent the transfer.

• Consult your tax expert. Learn how transfer taxes, gift taxes, and tax deductions for depreciation could come into play. Prepare for a property tax reassessment.

When you’re ready to go ahead with the transfer, draft a deed that meets the property’s state and county requirements.

• Transfer the deed into the LLC’s state-registered name. Holders of multiple properties may use multiple deeds, placing each property under a series LLC. The drafter names the LLC and its place in the series (such as “Series B”) on each of the separate deeds.

• Sign and notarize the deed according to the property’s state and county requirements.

• Record each new deed at the county recorder’s office. Pay the required fee.

But wait! There’s more. You’ll need to update all the legal and financial records associated with the property, including:

• The tax records, generated by the local assessor. You need the correct taxes assessed and charged to your company.

• Your lease agreements with renters. They will now pay into your LLC bank account. Same goes for contracts with maintenance staff. Salaries are now your LLC’s responsibility to manage.

• Electric, gas, water, and telecommunications. Accounts should match the name on the property deed.

Speak with your local real estate attorney, too, about keeping LLC operating agreements up to date. It must state how the company is owned and how its real estate could be sold.

Please note: Each local office of the Recorder of Deeds provides directions for a valid deed transfer. At Deeds.com, we ensure the local requirements for transfers are always up to date. That said, we cannot offer situation-specific legal or financial advice. We offer this column simply for issue-spotting, to help guide your own due diligence.