Posted by Bud Branstetter on December 08, 1998 at 12:28:19:
Even if my corporation flips a property I would hold the title in the land trust. Why advertize what I have bought and sold. If you assign a contract then your name never goes on public record. If you simultaneously close then your name would if you didn’t use the land trust for that few moments bewteen recordings.
So, it’s not what you’re holding on to, it’s what your taking title to.
Taking real estate under another name?? - Posted by Steven J.
Posted by Steven J. on December 07, 1998 at 17:43:39:
Hi all you R.E. people. I need some assistance if you please to answer.
I’m about ready to start my venture into R.E., but I don’t want to take property using my own name because of a recent divorce. I would like to take it under, let’s say for instance, SMT Properties. How would I go about doing this legally? Do I have to register this name with my county courthouse as " doing business under", or is there something else that I need to do? How do I do this legally? I don’t want to form an LLC or Corp. just yet if I don’t have to.
Thanks in advance for all your help, this is a great newsgroup… keep up the great help for everyone 
Steven
Re: Taking real estate under another name?? - Posted by Rob FL
Posted by Rob FL on December 07, 1998 at 21:38:50:
A sole proprietership/fictitious name cannot take title. Because they are YOU, they do not exist on their own unlike a corporation, partnership, or LLC. Your best bet is to place the property in a trust. I just use the property address as my trust. (John Smith, as trustee of The 1515 Oak Street Trust)
Re: Taking real estate under another name?? - Posted by PBoone
Posted by PBoone on December 07, 1998 at 18:46:59:
Steven,
We choose LLC’s to place properties for a variety of reasons, some people will place them in a separate trust for each property such as 123 oak trust then 124 oak trust. On each trust place the beneficiary as yourself or an LLC.
Bill Bronchick offers a course in the “books and tapes” area of CREONLINE that can better explain how to do this legally.
Pat
Drawback of being your own trustee - Posted by Bud Branstetter
Posted by Bud Branstetter on December 08, 1998 at 08:39:14:
The use of your own name negates one of the benefits of the land trust, anonymity. If you are being sued for for a slip and fall on your property in the land trust it will not be very difficult to find who to serve. If you are being sued personally, you are defining for them what you own before they ever get to court. It is similar in the case where your LLC is trustee. Most states have a registered agent that is public. If that is you, I gotcha.
Now consider the difficulty if someone else is trustee and you have an out of state P.O. Box. First you name or corporate name does not appear on any of the documents. If someone wants to serve the trustee they have to find out who owns the mailbox to try and track down the trustee. If they are suing you not until after the judgement is final can they ask you what you now or ever owned. Then again track down the trustee to find if you still own an interest in that trust. Fortunately the month before the incident took place you had “transferred” your interest in the trust to your wife. Because you file a joint return the return does not identify which one owned it at what point.
I am not sure of this last point because I have not had occasion to delve in to it. A land trust that has the beneficiary as trustee from a litigation stand point is more easily set aside as not having existed. Hence, you own it and were only trying to defraud others.
I need clarification - Posted by Lette
Posted by Lette on December 08, 1998 at 10:43:42:
I know a land trust is used for the sake of anonymity. But can an assignment contract be a land trust as well? For instance, let’s say I purchase a property with intentions to flip or assign. Which contract am I using? Or is it only necessary to use a land trust for properties you’re holding on to?