Way random legal question about homeownership for anyone who might know...

[Totem Polar]

This is pretty far out, but I trust that P-F will deliver, regardless.

Does anyone know if it's legal to buy a home under an alias or assumed name?

And no, I'm not asking for me; I'm good with both my home and my real name. :D

Thanks in advance for indulging this one.

[pangloss]

I think it would be close to impossible regardless of legality. I'd look into forming a LLC or creating a trust to take ownership of the property.

Edit: I am not a lawyer but I bought 4 houses in 10.5 years in 4 different states.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

[okie john]

This is pretty far out, but I trust that P-F will deliver, regardless.

Does anyone know if it's legal to buy a home under an alias or assumed name?

And no, I'm not asking for me; I'm good with both my home and my real name. :D

Thanks in advance for indulging this one.

Not sure whether it's legal or not, but you'll have to pass a shitload of credit checks, so bear that in mind. Might be able to achieve the same thing with a corporation, but it wouldn't be hard to trace it back to real people.

Any specific reason that this might be necessary?


Okie John

[ssb]

Of the entities that spring to mind which you could incorporate as, all will require some sort of paperwork filed with your state's Secretary of State/equivalent. That paperwork's going to have somebody's name on it, and it's usually in a public database.

[RoyGBiv]

Depending on the rules in your location, you may be able to engage a lawyer to form a trust and have the trust own the property with the lawyer being the only publicly recorded contact for the trust. You'd need to have a careful contract with the lawyer, or you may be able to set up the trust through an asset management company.

Disclosure: I am by no means any kind of expert in this field, but I do sleep at HI Express a few times per year.

Example: http://info.legalzoom.com/blind-trust-work-lottery-winners-20115.html

[Totem Polar]

Any specific reason that this might be necessary?


No good one that I can think of. As to credit, assume that the house was bought with cash.

[SecondsCount]

No good one that I can think of. As to credit, assume that the house was bought with cash.

My guess is that somewhere along the line a social security number will need to be produced.

[Hambo]

IME even without a mortgage a name isn't going on the deed without a SSN. That in two different states so far.

[Totem Polar]

My guess is that somewhere along the line a social security number will need to be produced.


IME even without a mortgage a name isn't going on the deed without a SSN. That in two different states so far.

That's my thinking too. I appreciate the feedback thus far. I assume it is conceivable that a real SSN could be used with an alias, yes? It's also possible that an issue wouldn't come up unless someone had reason to check, or am I missing something?

[XXXsilverXXX]

There are attorneys that specialize in this, and it's expensive. Generally not worth it unless your trying to hide from someone...

[Kukuforguns]

Umm, if Anon E Mouse is listed on the deed, how does Mai Reel Naym resolve property disputes? This seems like an epic disaster in the making.

[voodoo_man]

I think it would be close to impossible regardless of legality. I'd look into forming a LLC or creating a trust to take ownership of the property.

Edit: I am not a lawyer but I bought 4 houses in 10.5 years in 4 different states.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

Buddy of mine flips houses regularly as well as uses some properties as long term investment rental properties. Sometimes he does not know what he is going to do so he starts an LLC for each address. The LLC's name is the address itself eg; 1234 Main Street.

He started doing this after he had a buyer come after him in court for something. This way he is insulated.

[Stephanie B]

This is pretty far out, but I trust that P-F will deliver, regardless.

Does anyone know if it's legal to buy a home under an alias or assumed name?

And no, I'm not asking for me; I'm good with both my home and my real name. :D

Thanks in advance for indulging this one.

Probably going to screw the owner up on taxes, but the answer is kinda sorta yes.

If the buyer is in a state where the ownership of a LLC or a corporation isn't public information, then form a LLC/S corp/C corp to hold the property and name the corp after the address or something generic (845 Elm Street Holding Corp).

If the buyer is in a state where the ownership is public information, then form a company/LLC in a state where it isn't public information. If it's just passive property ownership, the foreign (legalese for "out of state") company might not even have to register in the state where the property is. If the state where the property is does require it, then there's probably a procedure to register the company as a foreign corp. authorized to do business in the state. If that isn't enough of a shield, then use th foreign corp as a holding company for the domestic corp.

Or maybe you can do the same thing with a family trust, but most trusts I've seen have the family name in the name of the trust. I don't do trust work, so I dunno. But the other stuff, yeah, I used to set up that sort of machinations a few times a year before the Great Recession.

[TGS]

Does anyone know if it's legal to buy a home under an alias or assumed name?

Under an alias, yeah, sure, if you legally change your name you now have an alias.

Assumed name is usually a term reserved for an illegitimate identity and has a connotation of criminality.

18 USC 1028 (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1028) "Fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents, authentication features, and information", or 1028a if assuming someone else's name.

If it's under a HUD/FHA loan then you're inviting some other felonies, the most common being 18 USC 1001 False Statements. If you make a material lie on a USG form, you have committed a felony. Signing a document as someone you are in fact not would be "making a false statement."

If you fill out a form using a false identity and mail that form......you may have committed mail fraud. Or wire fraud if over an electronic medium.

Someone mentioned SSN, which is another big sticking factor. 42 USC 408.

There's lots of details to this. Even if it's legal in some manner, it's going to make life a pain in the ass because "your friend" could be under constant investigation every time he tries to renew/obtain some sort of government ID.

[Lester Polfus]

There are attorneys that specialize in this, and it's expensive. Generally not worth it unless your trying to hide from someone...

This, and:

https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Invisible-Protect-Children-ebook/dp/B0065QZVB6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493430119&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+be+invisible

The 2012 revised version is an improvement over previous ones, as it deals with certain post 9/11 realities.

[Sam]

Or maybe you can do the same thing with a family trust, but most trusts I've seen have the family name in the name of the trust. I don't do trust work, so I dunno. But the other stuff, yeah, I used to set up that sort of machinations a few times a year before the Great Recession.

At least in California the trust name can be anything and since trust documents are not public record, a trust would hide the identity of the individual.

This is not legal advice.

[Stephanie B]

At least in California the trust name can be anything and since trust documents are not public record, a trust would hide the identity of the individual.

This is not legal advice.

The question is very state-law specific. And the reason why a person might want to do this might could be permitted. A person fleeing domestic violence, for instance. Or certain public officials.

But the best thing to do is consult with a local lawyer.

[Totem Polar]

I appreciate the responses very much. Interesting stuff.

[TGS]

This, and:

https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Invisible-Protect-Children-ebook/dp/B0065QZVB6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493430119&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+be+invisible

The 2012 revised version is an improvement over previous ones, as it deals with certain post 9/11 realities.

My investigations in my current assignment revolve around identity fraud.

I'd be careful with using these books as a how-to, and would treat them more as an interesting read. We read them too, and they're usually a few years behind or in certain aspects completely erroneous.

That's not to say you can't effectively conceal/change your identity, but to effectively do it means entirely abandoning your life for most people. Even people in witsec get discovered by other federal agencies investigating identity fraud.

[Lester Polfus]

My investigations in my current assignment revolve around identity fraud.

I'd be careful with using these books as a how-to, and would treat them more as an interesting read. We read them too, and they're usually a few years behind or in certain aspects completely erroneous.

That's not to say you can't effectively conceal/change your identity, but to effectively do it means entirely abandoning your life for most people. Even people in witsec get discovered by other federal agencies investigating identity fraud.

It's funny you should mention that. I threw Luna's book out there with an intent to come back and add more when I had more time.

There's a kind of continuum to this stuff, with basic precautions against, say, a not particularly intelligent stalker ex-girlfriend/boyfriend, to being un-findable by Federal law enforcement (which I really don't think is even possible any more, if you want to have any semblance of a normal life.)

At some point on that continuum, you start doing some really questionable legal stuff, and in the last couple of decades, that's become increasingly difficult to get away with, and is just stupid anyway.

But as along as there are rich people, there will lawful ways to obfuscate who owns property, at least from John Q Public. They are expensive, and time consuming, and probably not worth it for most people.

[Totem Polar]

So, let's look at this question from another angle: Can anyone think of a legit reason why someone might, say, be employed under one name, and buy property in the same area under an alias, as opposed to an LLC?

[Maple Syrup Actual]

The only reason that springs to mind is some legitimate privacy concern.

A friend of mine recently sold a quarter-million-dollar boat to a guy who gave so little information it was bizarre. Tight tight tight and clearly extremely well-informed about privacy laws, and very cagey about even the tiniest scraps of information. Phone numbers changed regularly and even the (obviously burner) phone numbers were guarded carefully.

Eventually we figured it out: he was a high-ranking LE agent tasked with a bunch of stuff related to organized crime, who'd been seriously burned by another agency. I would bet any money that he's got virtually nothing in his own actual name.

That said...I would also guess that if I were in his shoes I'd have a numbered corporation, and that corporation would own the majority of shares in an offshore corporation, the rest of which would be owned by someone else, and that corporation would own a bunch of local stuff which included a corporation which owned a house. Would it stop the government from finding me? I doubt it (although really, this is Canada. Foreign money is don't-ask, don't-tell) but it would absolutely stop jerks from finding me.

Fake names...that sounds less legal and less effective.

[JohnO]

Perhaps with cash?

However good luck trying to prove ownership.

[Odin Bravo One]

Just like anything else, it is only illegal if you get caught.