Who should be signing the Property Lease?

We are often asked which company should be signing the property lease with the tenant?  Is it the LLC which owns the property?  Is it the AMLP which holds the LLC, or is it the Management company we use to collect the rents.

We have already addressed the various options for how you can set up your LLCs and the use of a Management Company.  You can reference that article here: "How to Manage Rental Property".

The simple answer is that the lease should be signed between the tenant and the LLC which owns the property.  While the Management Company may be responsible for collecting rents and managing the property, it is not the owner.  The owner is the LLC which holds title to the property and this is the party who has the power to lease the property.  

You can then specify in the lease which company is the Management Company and where rent checks and communication can be directed. It is very common for the owner of the property and the manger of the property to be different entities.