Llc, s corp, or c corp?

I filed LLC. Accountant said I did not make enough for S corp and not to mess with C corp. Also needed additional members to be a S corp. Lawyer said use LLC to separate myself and my business. If I do something stupid I still get sued and personally. If an idiot helper/volunteer does something stupid then that is where the LLC comes in. The haunt only owns the crap inside the building. Also with LLC I have to sign a rental agreement with myself for my haunt so that my haunt stays separate legally. You can't bypass the social security taxes by trying to pay yourself rent though. With LLC you have to keep every little detail separate and not mingle credit cards, checking accounts, etc. etc.

Just a thought...how about having customer print and sign a release from liability form before entering the haunt?

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Originally Posted by fearforyourlife

Just a thought...how about having customer print and sign a release from liability form before entering the haunt?

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That's a scary and separate scenario all together! 1) You can't feasibly check ID's of everyone, so lord knows if theyre signing their name or putting down Mickey Mouse on those forms, and 2) It won't hold up in court if anyone under the age of 18 signs it.

Spend the few hundred bucks it takes to create an LLC, pay a lawyer another few hundred to make sure its done right (In CT there's a couple hundred dollar filing fee, i dont know about your state) and make sure you just say youre an LLC as often as possible, makes things MUCH easier.

Personally, I am AWFUL at book keeping, I forget to keep receipts ALL the time. I'm still working with my partner on getting a separate checking account, right now it's just us doing what we can afford when we can afford it and as each thing comes along, just so we don't really bankrupt ourselves (even though he's assuming a much larger chunk of financial risk and I do more of the actual labor part), neither of us keep receipts or anything and I'm TRYING so HARD to work on that lol, my accountant is going to hate me come November!

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Originally Posted by screamforadream

That's a scary and separate scenario all together! 1) You can't feasibly check ID's of everyone, so lord knows if theyre signing their name or putting down Mickey Mouse on those forms, and 2) It won't hold up in court if anyone under the age of 18 signs it.

Spend the few hundred bucks it takes to create an LLC, pay a lawyer another few hundred to make sure its done right (In CT there's a couple hundred dollar filing fee, i dont know about your state) and make sure you just say youre an LLC as often as possible, makes things MUCH easier.

Personally, I am AWFUL at book keeping, I forget to keep receipts ALL the time. I'm still working with my partner on getting a separate checking account, right now it's just us doing what we can afford when we can afford it and as each thing comes along, just so we don't really bankrupt ourselves (even though he's assuming a much larger chunk of financial risk and I do more of the actual labor part), neither of us keep receipts or anything and I'm TRYING so HARD to work on that lol, my accountant is going to hate me come November!

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I totally agree on the LLC thing. I wasn't saying not to form an LLC, I was more saying to add an extra layer of protection after you form an LLC by having people sign off. I do agree they can sign any name and I wouldn't want to check ID's, however I believe if you put up a sign that says signing the sheet is required to enter, and it says on the back of the ticket that they agree to sign before entering, a person should be covered. Of course if the house had something happen that caused an injury they (the house) would be liable, but if a person tried to claim something ridiculous the house would be protected.

Am I missing something? If a person created an LLC then leased his building to said LLC/Haunted House and did'nt have expensive liabilty insurance, if someone sued all that would be at stake is the haunted house and its assets?? Not the building or the owner's personal assets....??

Good inputs guys ... I am going to review the LLC angle. I have a friend currently under an LLC being sued by a number of companies for contract issues, etc, so it will be interesting to see how she fares as they are suing both the LLC and her personally.

Either way I found it easy to establsih either one and not very expensive. Just cost me the fee to file with the state (S-Corp) which was like $150. Legal Zoom wanted something like $600 to do the filing!

Big T I almost fell for the legalzoom thing. Then I figured out how easy it was to file by myself. Saved myself hundreds that I was able to put into props instead of some other companies pocket for something I can do myself.

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Originally Posted by riverswampboat

Am I missing something? If a person created an LLC then leased his building to said LLC/Haunted House and didn't have expensive liability insurance, if someone sued all that would be at stake is the haunted house and its assets?? Not the building or the owner's personal assets....??

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When people "incorporate" or create a managing corporation for anything they are working on, if something does go wrong, and someone is going to get sued, usually it is the corporation that gets sued. We all know that. Ergo, using tools like corporations are popular.

However, what a lot of people don't know or realize is that if the offending act in question is particularly egregious, and if the proverbial man behind the curtain seems to just be hiding "behind the corporate veil" (the technical term for it) so as to avoid liability (for instance, sitting on a net worth of millions of dollars, while the corporation is penniless), then a court can elect to "pierce the corporate veil" and go after the man himself, deeming the article of corporation merely a facade or front. And mind you, this is with a corporation, one of the most powerful tools you can use to protect yourself.

So, that said, I have to wonder . . . is an LLC any less "pierceable"?

This all reminds me of when the former British PM Neville Chamberlain got off the airplane in 1938 and started waving around a copy of the Munich Agreement in front of the press and film cameras, calling it "Peace in Our Time", thinking that some flimsy piece of paper was going to hold back the nazi war machine, which obviously it didn't. He resigned and died in disgrace, two years later.

This also reminds me of another piece of paper, fashioned into a table tent and that sat on my desk. It had a quote from the President and CEO of the telecom company I worked at, who had built it from the ground up. (Apparently they had passed these out at some function, and I inherited one.)

It said "Leave Absolutely Nothing to Chance".

I'm sure all of these legal designations are great for what they do, and probably make it easier to set certain things up as you go, but I doubt that they completely remove all liability and probably have less protective power than people generally seem to give them credit for. I think it would be very interesting for an attorney type to weigh in and offer some real world insight on this subject. It would probably prove quite illuminating. I know I'm not an expert, and would like to see how they play out in the real world.

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Originally Posted by fearforyourlife

Big T I almost fell for the legalzoom thing.

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"All I wanna do is a legal-zoom-zoom in a boo-room!!" :D



*sorry, couldn't resist*

C.

BAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe you referenced Wrecks-n-Effect! Bahahahaha! Awesome!

C,

Aaahhh, love that word...as in piercing the corporate veil? Yeah in my S- corp building biz I've been involved in a few legal battles in the past 22 years. I had this one attorney trying to get me for "piercing the corporate veil" (meaning I was intermingling funds personally...which you cannot do!) So after dragging his client through the drudges & billing him umpteen hours at $400. an hour, he couldn't find one freaking document that I forgot to sign as Prez. or any piercing going on. So just for the BS he put me through, I counter sued his frivolous lawsuit ass...and won! I love saying that!;) Seriously though, one thing I've learned through the years...if someone wants to bring suit against you they can & you have to defend it regardless of what entity your trading under. So I say, consult with an biz attorney (because every persons scenario is different) and he should be able to guide you in the direction that best protects you. Believe me all...I've been run thru the ringer (not in the haunt biz yet!) but in my building biz & if you don't have your ducks in a row & a good legal team you will get chewed up (sometimes even if you win). Consider it a biz expense & get it right from the get go. Sad, but it is the world we now live in...you know..."what can my lazy, non-working ass get from this filthy rich haunted attraction owner & his insurance"? Oh by the way...don't waste your money on those signed releases...they are pretty much useless. Any good lawyer will literally tear those up. Can you tell I'm fond of attorney's?;) LOL Only the one's protecting MY interest!:D LOL Juuusssttt my two cents!



P.