When taking ownership of properties, a land trust offers several asset protection mechanisms to protect people legally and financially. If you are someone who is a serious investor in real estate, it’s important to understand the many advantages that land trusts provide. They are a very powerful tool affording maximum financial protection and privacy. The following are five important reasons to utilize a land trust.
1. Deterring Litigation
As a general rule, most people will only sue those who appear to be well-funded. Attorneys who work on a contingency basis will likely only take cases that they not only can win, but are able to collect upon. If you have properties which are difficult to find, chances are you’ll be deemed less worthy of suing. Even in situations where a potential plaintiff believes you have adequate assets, the difficult process of finding and attaching such assets often discourages litigation.
2. Privacy Concerns
With today’s ever-increasing information resources, simply having an Internet connection allows anybody to easily look up real estate ownership information. Privacy is of major importance to many people who simply don’t want others to know about their holdings. As an example, if you have several properties in an area with strict code enforcement, even very minor violations could find you in court. Having real estate title in a land trust makes it more difficult for anyone to ascertain ownership, since the trust agreement is not part of the public record.
3. Lien and Title Claim Protection
Real estate which is titled in a trust isn’t subjected to liens against beneficiaries. For example, in the event of a foreclosure, the judgment holder or IRS can file claims against the property seller. However, when a property is titled into a trust, liens and personal judgments are only attached to the property itself. Additionally, having a land trust offers protection against title claims and any related liabilities.
4. Assumable Loans
Non-assumable loans can effectively become assumed through using land trusts. The seller will transfer title into the trust as beneficiary. This transfer doesn’t trigger due-on-sale clauses; therefore afterward, the beneficial interest can be moved to the trustee. Such transfers are not brought to the lender’s attention since it’s not publicly recorded, and the loan effectively becomes assumable.
5. Assignable Contracts
Land trust ownership is assignable, very similar to the way stocks in companies are. When a property is titled in a trust, the beneficiary can be altered without affecting the property?ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿs ownership. This is often beneficial in a number of scenarios such as making real estate offers in the trust’s name instead of your own.
There are numerous effective and creative uses for land trusts which are only limited by the imagination. Please visit Realestateforprofit.com and learn about the many advantages that land trusts offer.
