Legal Premise Agent in St. Petersburg
Hello all,
We have a property in St. Petersburg that recently got a codes violation for not having a legal premise agent on file. This property is owned by an LLC and we are not local. When searching for services that might do this, I found none unless they consider a registered agent the same as a legal premise agent. Seems like the codes department requires someone be a resident of the county to be the registered agent, so I am stuck on what to do now.
Any thoughts?
First, the bottom line: you're required to have someone named who can accepted notices on behalf of the property. That person is not responsible for the property but needs to be a local permanent resident. I serve in this capacity for my clients. It can be anyone you do business with (a handyman, realtor, lawyer/cpa, PM) who will agree to be named and accept notices. Here's the requirement:
http://www.stpete.org/code_enforcement/docs/legal_premises_agent_designation_form.pdf
Don't over-think it. Just think who you know or possible an affiliated realty firm will do it for you.
Have you ever thought about buying in a trust with the LLC as beneficiary? This way your trustee is local and can sign and except notices. I do multi flips at a time and always buy in a trust and have not experienced any issues. I also am a local agent flipper investor that could serve as your premise agent but I believe land trusts protect you more and is the better route. I have a local title company / trustee company I can share their contact info if you wish to have It.
