Forming an LLC in PA

Given the nature of today's litigious society, having an LLC is a surefire way to protect your personal assets from that of your business assets. There are various forms of legal protection ranging from corporation to sole proprietorship but in this post, we will take a look at the steps necessary to complete a registration from start to finish for your rental property in Philadelphia. 

First, you will need to land on a name for your LLC. You can do this most simply by using the PA Business Name Lookup. This will allow you to see if anyone else has already registered the LLC name you are trying to get. For obvious clerical reasons, you will need to have a unique name. Once you have that you are ready to start the filing process. I have chosen the company IncFile to do my processing with the state in the past as they are helpful in pulling the necessary paperwork together, they don't charge a fee, other than that of the state to put the paperwork through (there are paid upgrades but I did not need any of those). The filing fee for PA at the time of writing is $125. 

Once you have the LLC established, there are a few more steps before you are ready to start getting your rental legally rented. Next, you will need a Tax ID number from the IRS. This is pretty quick and painless as they want you to file and pay them. The portal is very straightforward on the IRS site and the turnaround is reasonably quick. The next entity will be your local one for taxes, in this example that would be Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Revenue Department has you make an account and then sign up to create an account. I had some issues and called in to get in touch with someone to expedite the verification process they require but everything can be done online, from what I was told. Once this information is returned you will need to proceed to the Eclipse system for the online completion of Business Activity Licensing and permits. 

The Eclipse system for licensing, inspections, and permitting for Philadelphia is a bit busy as systems go and it took a few attempts to pull up the right forms in the right order. First, you will need to create a Commercial Activity License which registers your LLC with the city in order to do business. Next, you will complete the request for the rental permit. This will include an array of details like the address, the number of units, who is managing the property compared to who owns it, etc. Be prepared with all the details of your arrangement so that the process can be completed and you can avoid any delays by having forms denied when there is missing or incomplete information.  Philadelphia now requires a lead test for all residential rental properties, regardless of the age of tenants (for any building build before the 1970s). This runs around $150 depending on your provider. Feel free to reach out for any of our contacts for a variety of services in Philadelphia.