Legal Tips for Wholesaling Real Estate
Many real estate investors regard wholesaling as a way to learn how to evaluate deals and develop your real estate network. It is also a method to profit from investing in real estate without requiring significant up front capital. Wholesaling is a strategy whereby...
Ask Your Attorney if a “Covfefe” Trademark Is Right for You
On May 31st, 2017, at 12:06 a.m. Eastern Time, President Donald Trump unleashed the following tweet: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.” No one has been able to definitively crack the code (if there is one) as to what “covfefe” actually means. The President...
Bitcoin Basics: What is Cryptocurrency?
Questions about Bitcoin have increased dramatically as investors have seen the price of Bitcoin rise from 30 cents per Bitcoin in 2011 to $2,550 per Bitcoin in July 2017. This article answers basic questions about Bitcoin and we'll have two follow-up articles...
The Realities of Litigation
For most people involved in a dispute, declaring the words “See you in Court!!” can seem like the perfect threat or even feel therapeutic at the least. Some even presume that by stating “I’m going to sue you” is like declaring nuclear war against the other side and...
How to Donate to Charity and Beat the Tax Man
I have a close relative who works in fund-raising for a fairly large university. While he loves receiving large charitable donations in the form of immediately available cash or other marketable assets (such as real estate and publicly-traded stock), he knows that...
6 Tax and Legal Tips When Investing in Real Estate
Sir Francis Bacon put it best when he said, “knowledge is power”. Not only does he have a great last name but he gives good advice that applies to all facets of life including investing in real estate. Whether you are new to real estate investing, or a seasoned...
What You Should Know about Administering a Family Member's Estate
Most of us will, at some point in our lives, be called upon to administer the estate of a departed family member or loved one. While it may seem like an honor to have been entrusted with this responsibility, the reality is often it is a thankless, time consuming job,...
Entrepreneurs Raise Money More Easily with Rule 504
The new $5 million cap will make it easier to raise larger amounts of money from unaccredited persons and we expect to see an increase in persons using Rule 504 to raise money for operating businesses and real estate investments.
Owner’s Liability After Your LLC is Closed or Dissolved?
Many business owners wonder whether their LLC will protect them from claims and liabilities after their LLC is closed. Does the limited liability protection of the LLC still apply? Does it only apply for claims when the LLC was active? What about after the LLC is...
What Being Dragged Off a United can Flight Teach Us about Contract Law?
Unless you’ve been in a coma for the past week or so, you’ve probably seen the cell phone camera footage of airport police dragging a kicking and screaming Dr. David Dao off a United Airlines flight at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport last week. At this point, the story is...
What Do I Need to Know About Title Insurance
We all know that title insurance is a necessity when purchasing real estate, but many do not have a sufficient understanding of what title insurance is really for and steps we can take to deal with title insurance companies to prevent being embroiled in a title...
Business Succession: When Corporate Governance and Estate Planning Converge: Are You Setup Properly?
You may have heard in the news recently that there’s been some fighting among the ownership team of the Los Angeles Lakers. When Dr. Jerry Buss, the majority owner, died in 2012, his ownership passed to his six children via a trust, with each child receiving an equal...
Eight Spring Cleaning Ideas for Your Business
Don’t ask me why, but my seven year-old daughter is obsessed with the cheesy early 1990’s goodness that is Full House. Nick at Nite has scheduled a two-hour block of Danny Tanner, Uncle Jesse, Joey and the Tanner girls from 7-9 p.m. most weeknights, and my daughter...
Alternatives for Securing Your Loans or Investments
We often advise clients who want to loan money or participate in an investment to “get adequate security” for their investment. The purpose of getting additional security for your loan is so that you have something else that you can go after if the loan goes south....
Real Estate Investor Escapes Criminal Charges: Legal Factors When Raising Money from Others with Promissory Notes
Thousands of real estate deals/projects involve the use of promissory notes as a way to raise money to fund the project. If you are raising capital for a real estate project using promissory notes and you assume incorrectly that securities laws do not apply to your...
Just "Having" an S-Corp May Not be Enough
Just “having” an S-Corporation may not be enough. It's important you make sure to reap the tax and legal benefits of your S-Corp if you're going to set one up. If you routinely read articles in this space or have heard any of our attorneys speak around the country,...
Who's Liable- The Landlord or the Tenant?
We have many clients that own residential rental and commercial properties and lawsuits involving landlords continue to happen throughout the country, and will continue so long as someone is willing to 'rent a room' and someone is likely not to pay or damage...
Which State's Law Applies in a Lawsuit?
We frequently hear from clients who have been told by others that they should incorporate in Nevada (or other states outside of their home state) in order to take advantage of their favorable laws. We have seen many individuals persuaded into incorporating in a...
What Is a “Holding Company” and When Could It Make Sense to Have One?
We have lots of clients who come to us after dealing with promoters and would-be practitioners who have recommended elaborate (and usually expensive) entity structures for their businesses. This “up-sell” approach tends to happen whether the business sells...
Court Rules Against California Franchise Tax Board on Overreaching Franchise Tax
On January 12, 2017, an appeals court in California ruled, in a closely watched case of Swart Enterprises, Inc. v. Franchise Tax Board (Appeals Case F070922), that a non-resident of CA was not “doing business in California” and therefore not liable for California...
“Piercing the Veil" – Are you Appropriately Maintaining your LLC or Corporation?
Our law firm takes the position that an entity (such as an LLC or corporation, etc.), if properly maintained and used, can serve an important function in terms of liability protection, in addition to other forms of risk management such as insurance. This may be a...
5 New Year’s Resolutions to Make Your Business Great (or Great Again)
The dawn of a new year is traditionally a time for self-reflection on what we need to do to improve our lives. Many of us focus on goals to make ourselves better physically, mentally, spiritually, and yes – even financially. For those of you who own a small...
Estate Planning After a Spouse's Death
It's hard to consider the grief and sorrow that comes when a spouse passes. However, the year following the death of a spouse is an important one for the surviving spouse as there are number estate planning considerations and decisions to be made. This article is...
The Law of Christmas Light Displays according to the Hon. Clark W. Griswold
According to a 2011 survey, Americans spend in excess of $6 billion per year on Christmas decorations – and there’s no truth to the rumor that more than half of that number was spent by Clark Griswold for his annual Christmas light extravaganza. What is true is that...
Hulk Hogan & Asset Protection Lessons from Bollea v. Clem
In one of the more highly publicized cases of this year, in March 2016, a Florida jury in the case Bollea v. Clem awarded Hulk Hogan $115 Million in compensatory damages and $25M in punitive damages against the owners and operators of the Gawker website. Gawker was...
The Election Didn't Kill ObamaCare (yet): What You Need to Know
As Americans awoke on the morning of November 9, 2016, the reality of a Donald Trump presidency began to sink in. Many believed that a Trump administration would mean the end of the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. the ACA or ObamaCare) on day one. Well, the reports of...
Thinking About Starting a Business? Consider These Ten Tax Tips
As the end of the year is fast approaching and 2017 will be here soon, if you’ve been thinking about starting a new business, keep in mind that once you are self-employed, a huge portion of the tax code opens up and becomes available to you for tax write-offs. Of...
How to Negotiate a Solid Contract
Lets face it, we all have to deal with contracts, many of us on a daily basis, and it is the law of contracts which forms the very foundation for our civil and commercial society. The main purpose of a contract is to memorialize and confirm the intentions and future...
Series LLC’s (Somewhat) Demystified State-By-State
Many of our clients, especially real estate investors, have heard of the Series LLC. However, the Series LLC seems to have a bit of a mysterious aura that keeps it from being understood. I think this comes from the fact that the Series LLC is relatively new...
What are My Options if I Disagree with the IRS?
Many view the IRS as an agency shrouded in mystery and the IRS is generally perceived as the omnipotent “big brother” that we should all fear. It is true that the IRS does have the ability to unilaterally garnish wages or levy on assets, whereas almost every other...
Starting Your Solo 401k By Year-End
The end of the year is approaching fast and many small business owners and real estate investors are looking for end of year tax savings! One of the typical year-end tax strategies is to make a tax deductible retirement account contribution. If you’re self-employed...
Estate Planning: Recent Questions from our Clients
In my experience, estate planning is one of the most important, and simultaneously least understood, areas of the law. Perhaps this is because none of us ever see how our own estate plan (or lack thereof) plays out after we are gone. Maybe it’s because there’s just a...
How to Properly Use Credit Reports to Screen Tenants
Experienced landlords and property managers understand the importance of carefully screening prospective tenants and anyone who has had to go through the process of evicting a tenant knows how cumbersome the eviction process could be. The ability to screen tenants...
Putting the Pieces Together: Tax, Asset Protection, Small Business Law, Real Estate, Raising Capital, Self-directed IRA Law, and Estate Planning
As an Attorney at KKOS Lawyers, I work under Mark Kohler and Mat Sorensen, the managing partners of the Firm. Mark is also a CPA and advises clients in the areas of small business tax planning, asset protection, etc. He has written books on these subjects (Lawyers...
Divorce and Taxes – What You Need to Know to Avoid Getting Burned by Uncle Sam
Going through a divorce can be one of the most emotionally and even physically draining events in life. The process of sorting out child custody issues, dividing assets, and deciding how much child support and alimony are to be paid can take months in the courts,...
The 'ABCs' of Buy-Sell Agreements
Most of us know that in business it is crucial to choose your partners carefully as the success of your business (and perhaps your livelihood) depends on it. We also encourage our business owners to have frank discussions with their partners regarding the details of...
LLC's and Limited Liability Protection: A Primer for the Small Business Owner
KKOS Lawyers is the Entrepreneur’s Law Firm. By definition, an entrepreneur is someone who assumes the financial risks of a new enterprise and who undertakes to provide its management. The LLC or an s-corporation are typically the preferred business entities of...
Go for the Gold…and Keep It – What to Do If You Receive a Financial Windfall
I don’t know about you, but right now, every evening, I find myself riveted to the screen, breathlessly taking in action in synchronized diving, archery, water polo, and even rhythmic gymnastics! This can only mean one thing (because I would never otherwise watch any...
How to Reduce Your Liability as a Landlord
Premises liability is an area of the law that addresses the responsibility of land owners to individuals who come on the land. This is basically the liability a Landlord faces when owning property. Perhaps the most common form of premises liability which most people...
Raising Money for Others
If you are assisting someone else’s company in raising money and are receiving a fee for doing so you must do such activities within the confines of the securities laws. These laws essentially provide three different ways in which one may legally raise money for...
Airbnb Lawsuits, Short-Term Rentals, and Real Estate Investors
You may have heard about the lawsuits involving Airbnb in San Francisco and New York City. Although such lawsuits involve, in part, the question of whether Airbnb can list on their website those properties that have not been duly registered with the local...
How Pokemon Go Could Get you Sued
For those of us who grew up in the 90’s, Pokemon was a series of kids’ video games and cartoons from Japan. I was a little too old for the original Pokemon craze, but my younger siblings were into it and the whole thing always seemed like harmless fun. Since its...
Tips on Purchasing Homeowner’s Insurance
People who have read Mark Kohler’s Lawyers are Liars know that our philosophy with respect to asset protection is the “multiple barrier approach” to put as many barriers as you can between you and someone who would sue you. For owners of real estate, one of primary...
3 Reasons to have a Partnership Agreement
If you have your own business or are thinking about starting your own business, this article was written for you, particularly if you currently have or are considering having a business partner(s). Some business owners are hesitant to mention to their business...
Top 10 Hottest Legal Tips To Keep You From Getting Burned This Summer
If the mercury is approaching (or maybe even topping) 100 degrees and the kids are out of school, then it must be Summertime – cue the Will Smith!!! The long days and pleasant temperatures mean this is the season for taking that hard-earned vacation, and whether...
5 Important Reasons to Avoid Probate
Anyone with a basic understanding of estate planning knows that one of the primary benefits of having a living trust is to avoid probate. Nevertheless, unless you are an attorney or have been personally involved in a probate proceeding in the past, few people have an...
Comparing 2016 Presidential Candidates Tax Plans: Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton
As the list of Democratic and Republican presidential candidates has been reduced to three, Donald, Hillary, and Bernie Sanders, many of our clients have wondered, how will a change in the Oval Office affect their tax return for 2017 and beyond? Setting aside all of...
Investor versus Dealer in Real Estate, Which One Are You?
We are frequently asked by clients whether their plans to buy and sell real estate will subject them to status as a “dealer” in real estate, and therefore subject their profits to ordinary income treatment and self-employment tax. In general, the sale of real estate...
Roth 401k versus Roth IRA: A Battle for the Ages (kind of)
Not that long ago, a Roth retirement account did not exist. However, for many individuals today, a Roth account is the preferred retirement investment vehicle, particularly for self-directed retirement account owners. The reason why a ROTH tends to gain favor is...
Success in a Lawsuit
For many people, filing a lawsuit is tantamount to hitting your opposing party with the nuclear option. Nevertheless, if the potential for litigation does arise, in most cases, your options will be to either litigate, settle, or walk away. In most cases, trying to...