RENT Magazine Q4 '21

ARE YOUR INVESTMENT PROPERTIES PROTECTED OR EXPOSED? All of us have what I like to call our “liability footprint.” Meaning, we are exposed to liability based on the things going on in our lives. Let me explain. If you have kids who are

landlords. And it’s not a level playing field for property owners when it comes to guarding your property. If you put all of your money away in a 401k plan, for example, there are built-in protections for it. The powers-that-be say that your 401k is too important, that it is retirement money and so it is safe from creditors. Even though you may own rental income property as a cash-flowing retirement investment, you do not

get protections from creditors like you would if your money was in a 401k plan. You are on your own. There are also unfavorable laws that can hurt you. There’s Prop. 19 in California that negatively impacts many property owners. There’s also a wave of rules against landlords as a result of the pandemic. The Federal Government is also voting right now on massive new tax

increases everywhere that will affect many property owners across the country. The property environment is certainly frothy at the moment. So you need to make a choice whether to guard yourself or throw caution to the wind when it comes to liability and your property. Owning rental income property comes with

minors, then you can be exposed to their liabilities, such as car accidents where your child injures someone. If you own a business, then you have exposure to all types of liabilities stemming from the operation of that business. There are over 40 million lawsuits filed in the U.S. every year and getting worse. Many of those are against

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