Accused of being a moron for suggesting DBA ???

[Rob2]

I'm in WA state....
For the purpose of anonymity I am changing the business names.
Using ABC LLC and Pine Tree Apartments instead of real names.

I am a property manager, and the building is owned by ABC LLC, not me.
The building was bought several years ago, and when it was bought it had a sign on the front of the building with the building's name on it. It's called Pine Tree Apartments. So moving years later I am managing a building that's owned by ABC LLC and has a big sign on the front that says Pine Tree Apartments.

I did a search to make sure the name "Pine Tree Apartments" is not registered with anyone, it's not.

Here's what I proposed to the LLC owner:

I proposed the LLC get a DBA (register a "doing business as" name) so that it makes it easy on me when conversing about the apartment building and lets us keep the big sign on the building. Taking it down is an extra expense (it's a hefty sign and high up on 2nd story).

As manager that has to refer to the building on a regular basis it is fitting for me to refer to the property as Pine Tree Apartments rather then ABC LLC (especially since there’s a big sign on front of property calling the building that). It’s more about semantics and having a name that matches what you’re talking about. It’s weird and cumbersome to refer to an apartment building as ABC LLC (no one knows what that is). Legal paperwork it’s ok, but when talking to people and in general corespondency it’s just doesn’t flow.

To this suggestion the owner got mad and here's the summary of their reply.

• We are not changing the name of the LLC (she thinks this will replace the LLC name).
• There hasn't been any problems before so why stir things up, nobody has complained about it before.
• This will make things complicated, confuse my taxes, and cause legal trouble in the future.
• It's not our name to begin with.
• I'm doing this to appease the tenants and make their life easier, we are a business and there's no need to add more work for us.

Then I got called a moron several times and told not to tell her how to run her business

The advice I was given is to keep using the ABC LLC name or just use the Pine Tree Apartments name (even though it's not registered as a DBA).

So here I am looking out for the best interest of the property and making a suggestion to the owner and got totally slammed. It wasn't even a mature conversation, just let me take over the conversation disregard anything you have to say.

Here's the thing. I think I'm right. I think getting a DBA is a minor act. I don't think it will cause any legal trouble or confuse taxes. Also think it's a smart move. I think her points are invalid and makes her seem like someone that doesn't know what she's talking about. I also think that using the name Pine Tree Apartments without registering it as a DBA as suggested by her would actually be legally irresponsible. That's because in worst case scenario the court will say it's ABC LLC and you're calling it something else that's not registered (DBA) to you.

BUT I'm giving her the benefit of doubt.
Asking the community for feedback.
Am I really wrong about this, am I the moron she claims I am?

I'm bringing this up not because I want to be a dick to her. But rather want to get an outside opinion. It just feels weird letting someone else invalidate you when you think/know you're right. But then again maybe she's right, like I said I'm willing to be wrong about this just seeking feedback from other business minded people.

 

[TigerD]

If you like your job, you might want to rethink telling her how to run her business.

DC

 

[LdiJ]

If you like your job, you might want to rethink telling her how to run her business.

DC

In addition, you ARE being a bit of a moron about it. I understand why your boss got mad.

 

[quincy]

I'm in WA state....
... The building was bought several years ago, and when it was bought it had a sign on the front of the building with the building's name on it. It's called Pine Tree Apartments. So moving years later I am managing a building that's owned by ABC LLC and has a big sign on the front that says Pine Tree Apartments. ...

... The advice I was given is to keep using the ABC LLC name or just use the Pine Tree Apartments name (even though it's not registered as a DBA). ...

... I also think that using the name Pine Tree Apartments without registering it as a DBA as suggested by her would actually be legally irresponsible. That's because in worst case scenario the court will say it's ABC LLC and you're calling it something else that's not registered (DBA) to you. ...

... Am I really wrong about this ... ?[/I]

If ABC LLC is not doing business as Pine Tree Apartments, even if the building is being referred to by you as Pine Tree Apartments for easy identification purposes, there is no reason or need to register a DBA with the state. See the State of Washington's Business Licensing Service site (here one link to its FAQs): http://bls.dor.wa.gov/faqtradename.aspx

Using the Pine Tree Apartment name for building identification purposes only is no different than identifying a business as "the one with the big For Rent sign on the front" or "the one at the corner of Main and State streets" or "the one next to Starbucks."

I agree with debtcollector that you are not exactly in a good position to tell the LLC owner what to do, if you value your job. If the LLC owner's responses were given to you after ONE suggestion by you to register Pine Tree as a d/b/a, then the LLC owner was rude to call you a moron. If, however, the LLC owner's responses were given to you one at a time as you continued over time to suggest to the owner registering a d/b/a, the "moron" mon iker makes some sense.