That land trust/LLC idea has been floating around for a few years. It works if done correctly, but it’s not done correctly. People manage and own the entities themselves, which creates a way around the LLC and merge all the trusts together. Plaintiff’s attorneys have private investigators who will find your assets. They buy all the guru material and know the questions to ask in a deposition. If you get caught lying about your assets, you are pretty much all done and the judge will give the plaintiff pretty much whatever he wants.
How do the members get money out? The creditors aren’t going away. They will either wait for a distribution or settle.
Back a few posts ago, people were talking about multiple LLCs for multiple properties. If you live in a state that recognizes a series LLC, it can be a very cost effective way of organizing multiple properties. In IL, you have to pay a slightly higher fee when initially setting up the LLC to authorize it to establish a series. You also have to pay a little more each year in fees for each series you have, but it is MUCH cheaper than setting up and maintaining separate LLCs for each property. You can search for series LLCs online and find more info. The legal waters are kind of untested so far, but the theory is that if you have numerous properties and someone from one of them decides to sue you…if you have a series LLC, they are only able to sue for the assets of that particular series (or property in this case). Here’s a link for more info and it has some graphics as well: http://www.seriesllc.net/series_llc.php
It sounds good, but like you said is it untested? Also, having many LLCs does get complicated. So many check books and separate bank statements and tax docs. There has to be an easier way.