Montana LLC Experience

[cashorcharge]

Anyone here with experience opening an LLC in Montana that is not a resident of that state?

I'm curious on the practice of creating an LLC, making a large purchase like an Automobile and then register said automobile in Montana versus my own state?  

In reading online, practice seems fairly straighforward, create the LLC, purchase the car, register in Montana and your sales tax and registration fees are calculated using the state of Montana (0% sales tax) and Vehicle Registation fees much lower than other states.

Any experienced notes would be appreciated

[C6]

I have had one for about 7 years. I still have my motorhome registered there. I did the registration in person. It's a little more complicated now. I highly recommend this firm as they have been my registered agent for 7 years. 

https://www.49dollarmontanaregisteredagent.com/montana-vehicle-registration 

[Lurker22]

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@C6 wrote:

I have had one for about 7 years. I still have my motorhome registered there. I did the registration in person. It's a little more complicated now. I highly recommend this firm as they have been my registered agent for 7 years. 

https://www.49dollarmontanaregisteredagent.com/montana-vehicle-registration 

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I'm curious how this would work with financing - certainly an LLC would have the authority to obtain a loan but would many lenders approve a loan to limited purpose LLC with limited/no generating cash flow?

[oorhett]

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@Lurker22 wrote:

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@C6 wrote:

I have had one for about 7 years. I still have my motorhome registered there. I did the registration in person. It's a little more complicated now. I highly recommend this firm as they have been my registered agent for 7 years. 

https://www.49dollarmontanaregisteredagent.com/montana-vehicle-registration 

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I'm curious how this would work with financing - certainly an LLC would have the authority to obtain a loan but would many lenders approve a loan to limited purpose LLC with limited/no generating cash flow?

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I have also had a Montana LLC for several years used solely to register cars. Been looking for a new Agent as mine just upped thier fees this year so thanks @C6  for the recommendation.

Usually, I am not financing them so it's not an issue. For my last purchase, my credit union had no issue sending the title work to Montana but would only allow registration to my LLC if it was the LLC financing the loan which wasn't the case. I have had other Credit Unions that are flat unwilling to submit title work out of state.

As to obtaining Financing through your Montana LLC should be no different than any other LLC. I plan to start working on establishing business credit for my Montana Based LLC this year - https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Business-Credit/Business-Credit-101/td-p/108894

[cashorcharge]

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@C6 wrote:

I have had one for about 7 years. I still have my motorhome registered there. I did the registration in person. It's a little more complicated now. I highly recommend this firm as they have been my registered agent for 7 years. 

https://www.49dollarmontanaregisteredagent.com/montana-vehicle-registration 

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Thank you @C6 

Appreciate the referral

[cashorcharge]

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@Lurker22 wrote:

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@C6 wrote:

I have had one for about 7 years. I still have my motorhome registered there. I did the registration in person. It's a little more complicated now. I highly recommend this firm as they have been my registered agent for 7 years. 

https://www.49dollarmontanaregisteredagent.com/montana-vehicle-registration 

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I'm curious how this would work with financing - certainly an LLC would have the authority to obtain a loan but would many lenders approve a loan to limited purpose LLC with limited/no generating cash flow?

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I am digging into this now. I will likely not be paying cash so trying to figure out the loan, the title paperwork and then insurance is top of mind.  

I would likely be getting personal finance, not LLC...if I didn't have to.  

[C6]

There are lenders that will work with you to facilitate the loan but as mentioned many will not want to do it. I paid cash for my vehicles so it wasn't an issue for me but be prepared for lots of questions. Also, insurance is another issue you will have as many carriers won't write a policy for a LLC. Geico will write it for single member LLCs and they seemed the cheapest for me. I bought a new vehicle last year and the dealer would not register in any state other than where my driver's license showed me as resident.

[Anonymous]

Unless the car you are looking at is 100k+ the risk is not worth the reward IMO. Imagine if you were to get into a major wreck and be at fault, the insurance company will be looking for any legal way they can to deny coverage. The Montana "scam" is fairly evident and unless you can prove a bona fide business connection to MT the savings is not worth the risk. If you can afford the car, do you really want to be looking over your sholder forever? 

Ultimately you can decide what your risk tolerance is, but just know states are cracking down on this behavior also -https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/montana-registration-crack-down.587351/

[cashorcharge]

Appreciate the feedback @C6 @and @Anonymous 

I was planning on a purchase over $100K and good points to consider beforehand   

[fury1995]

Bennett Law Firm in Helena Montana is the firm most of my clients (highline) having been using for years to register and title using non brick-and-mortar LLC's. Montana has no vehicle sales tax but there is often a luxury tax / registration fee. Banks have no problem fiancing with a Montana title and registration as long long as their lien is placed on the title (obviously).