Will the Anonymity of My Wyoming LLC Make it Harder to Refinance in a Year?

[Ethan A.]

Hi all! I recently got a property in Pennsylvania under contract which is what you might call a “light flip”. I am going to close all cash (about $129,000), spend maybe $10,000 on renovations and then do a cash out refinance. My ability to do a cash out refinance in about 12 months and not have to sell the property is very important to me so the following item troubles me.

Six months ago I created a Wyoming LLC which is –like all Wyoming LLCs- organized anonymously. I am about to create a local Pennsylvania LLC to actually hold the property. I want my Wyoming LLC to own the Pennsylvania LLC but I am flexible about this if it is going to create trouble down the road with lenders.

I have to figure out if loan officers will consider it a problem that my Wyoming LLC is organized anonymously and they therefore cannot verify with the Wyoming Secretary of State what is the name of the organizer, as a lender could with a Pennsylvania LLC by calling the Pennsylvania Secretary of State.

I still have the option to create the LLC using myself as the named organizer rather than my Wyoming LLC, but I would prefer the Wyoming LLC for asset protection and privacy benefits.

Any input or anecdotal advice from you all is appreciated. Do those of you who set up LLCs for real estate acquisition regularly name another company as the organizer? Do those of you who are loan officers need to call the Secretary of State to verify who created an LLC before you lend, or do you accept the documentation within the corporate binder of the LLC as evidence of who currently owns the LLC?

I don't close until July 18 so I do have a week or two here to figure out what I want to do.

[Chris Seveney]

Quote from @Ethan A.:

Hi all! I recently got a property in Pennsylvania under contract which is what you might call a “light flip”. I am going to close all cash (about $129,000), spend maybe $10,000 on renovations and then do a cash out refinance. My ability to do a cash out refinance in about 12 months and not have to sell the property is very important to me so the following item troubles me.

Six months ago I created a Wyoming LLC which is –like all Wyoming LLCs- organized anonymously. I am about to create a local Pennsylvania LLC to actually hold the property. I want my Wyoming LLC to own the Pennsylvania LLC but I am flexible about this if it is going to create trouble down the road with lenders.

I have to figure out if loan officers will consider it a problem that my Wyoming LLC is organized anonymously and they therefore cannot verify with the Wyoming Secretary of State what is the name of the organizer, as a lender could with a Pennsylvania LLC by calling the Pennsylvania Secretary of State.

I still have the option to create the LLC using myself as the named organizer rather than my Wyoming LLC, but I would prefer the Wyoming LLC for asset protection and privacy benefits.

Any input or anecdotal advice from you all is appreciated. Do those of you who set up LLCs for real estate acquisition regularly name another company as the organizer? Do those of you who are loan officers need to call the Secretary of State to verify who created an LLC before you lend, or do you accept the documentation within the corporate binder of the LLC as evidence of who currently owns the LLC?

I don't close until July 18 so I do have a week or two here to figure out what I want to do.

Quick answer - No but...

This seems like unnecessary complexity and added expense for what you're trying to do.

Even if you structure it with a Wyoming LLC for anonymity, your name will still appear on the recorded mortgage when you refinance, so any hope of true privacy is gone at that point.

Also keep in mind that setting up and maintaining multiple LLCs across states adds cost, tax filings, and administrative overhead. Unless you're planning to scale significantly or have a very specific asset protection strategy, this structure might be more trouble than it’s worth.