Many Oregon LLC owners are making a serious mistake. They try to form a limited liability company in Oregon without completing the whole process. They may file the initial Articles of Organization with the Oregon Secretary of State's Office.
However, they stop at this point and do not complete the whole process required to properly organize an Oregon LLC. This puts them at risk for losing the protection for their personal assets they were trying to get by filing the Oregon LLC in the first place.
I know this because I am one of the people they often call to try and fix the problem.
Setting up an Oregon LLC is a process with several important steps. It's not hard, but each step is essential. I'll tell you what these steps are in a minute, but first I wanted to explain how the liability protection of an Oregon LLC works.
When a lawyer sues an LLC filed in Oregon, they often sue the individual owners also. They do this because they know that most small businesses operated as an LLC do not have enough assets in the business to pay off a legal judgment so they go after the individuals and their personal assets also.
However, you can protect your personal assets from a judgment if you can prove that you organized and operated your LLC as a separate legal entity under the law of Oregon. This is called limited liability protection. It's the long established law that protects your personal assets from judgments against your business.
Limited liability protection can shield your home, vehicles, retirement benefits, savings, recreational vehicles and other personal assets from judgments against your business. This protection is one of the main reasons why Oregon business lawyers strongly urge people to operate their business in the form of an LLC or small corporation. However, this protection is not automatic. It requires the LLC to be set up and operated properly. If not, you leave yourself wide open to personal liability.
It's no secret that we live in a lawsuit crazy society where many people are willing to sue at the drop of a hat. Oregon is no exception to this. Unfortunately, if you're in business, you make an easy target. A lawsuit can come from an unhappy customer, an injured person, a mad competitor or disgruntled former employee. Regardless of the source, the results can be financially devastating to you. And please don't make the mistake of thinking it can't happen to you. Believe me, it can. I've seen it.
It's fairly easy to complete the process of forming an Oregon LLC and by doing so, you place yourself in a much stronger position to protect your personal assets. To see if you have completed the process of properly organizing an Oregon LLC, just answer the 6 questions below. If you answer no to any of the questions, then you haven't fully completed the process:
Yes No ___ ___ Have you filed Articles of Organization with the Oregon Secretary of State?
___ ___ Have all members or owners of your Oregon LLC signed an Operating Agreement?
___ ___ Have you conducted some form of an organizational meeting and prepared written minutes or other documentation?
___ ___ Have you prepared written documentation showing the percentage ownership (or sharing ratio between members of the LLC)?
___ ___ Have you prepared written documentation showing the percentage ownership (or sharing ratio between members of the LLC)?
___ ___ Have you set up a new bank account for the LLC as a separate legal entity in the State of Oregon?
Each step of the process is important to help establish that you have fully organized your LLC and are operating it as a separate legal entity. This is what entitles you to the limited liability protection of your Oregon LLC
Before you file an Oregon LLC, make sure you check attorney Robert Montgomery's free report on "Seven Essential Steps to Filing an LLC" Oregon LLC, and filing LLC in Oregon
