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> However, I'd rather have this system than one in which all the owners are secret. I don't mean to be cynical, but isn't this system also the one in which som

by dictum 8y ago

> However, I'd rather have this system than one in which all the owners are secret. I don't mean to be cynical, but isn't this system also the one in which some people simply register their houses under a shell company?

jedberg 8y ago
Yes, but at least the shell company forwards on the messages. And most people don't do it because it's a hassle.
- woolvalley 8y ago
  And you lose a 250-500k capital gains exemption if you sell the house and it's not owned & lived in by you directly AFAIK The issue with this system is it also lets people look up where you live by name alone, which can be bad if you want to own your house and have a stalker problem. The map works 2 ways.
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Not true with a revocable trust, which costs under $1000 to establish and provides all the same benefits of owning the real estate directly without disclosing ownership. Disclaimer: Applies primarily to IL and FL, not an attorney, nor your attorney.
    - koolba 8y ago
      If you do that in CA can you “sell” control of the trust to circumvent reassessment of the real estate taxes after a sale?
      - toomuchtodo 8y ago
        My apologies, I’m only familiar with Illinois and Florida real estate law. A CA attorney should be able to answer that with a short, no cost phone consultation (if a trust can’t support such an arrangement, an LLC might).
      - njarboe 8y ago
        If a company or other entity is owned by a single person and just owns a single piece of property, this does not work and California will not let the prop 13 tax rate stay with the company. You are obviously trying to cheat to get around the law. As there are more owners of the company and the company has more diverse holdings, California is less likely to insist on resetting the assessed value of the real estate owned by the company upon sale. One REIT buying another REIT is fine. Like many laws, one does not really know what they mean on the edges until you do something and are taken to court.
mynameisvlad 8y ago
Isn't that exactly the same as PrivacyGuard or other WHOIS anonymizing services? If anything, it reinforces the analogy even more.

by dictum 8y ago

jedberg 8y ago

Yes, but at least the shell company forwards on the messages. And most people don't do it because it's a hassle.

woolvalley 8y ago
And you lose a 250-500k capital gains exemption if you sell the house and it's not owned & lived in by you directly AFAIK The issue with this system is it also lets people look up where you live by name alone, which can be bad if you want to own your house and have a stalker problem. The map works 2 ways.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Not true with a revocable trust, which costs under $1000 to establish and provides all the same benefits of owning the real estate directly without disclosing ownership. Disclaimer: Applies primarily to IL and FL, not an attorney, nor your attorney.
  - koolba 8y ago
    If you do that in CA can you “sell” control of the trust to circumvent reassessment of the real estate taxes after a sale?
    - toomuchtodo 8y ago
      My apologies, I’m only familiar with Illinois and Florida real estate law. A CA attorney should be able to answer that with a short, no cost phone consultation (if a trust can’t support such an arrangement, an LLC might).
    - njarboe 8y ago
      If a company or other entity is owned by a single person and just owns a single piece of property, this does not work and California will not let the prop 13 tax rate stay with the company. You are obviously trying to cheat to get around the law. As there are more owners of the company and the company has more diverse holdings, California is less likely to insist on resetting the assessed value of the real estate owned by the company upon sale. One REIT buying another REIT is fine. Like many laws, one does not really know what they mean on the edges until you do something and are taken to court.

mynameisvlad 8y ago

Isn't that exactly the same as PrivacyGuard or other WHOIS anonymizing services? If anything, it reinforces the analogy even more.