Land trust

A land trust is an agreement whereby one party (trustee) agrees to hold ownership of a piece of real property for benefit of another party (beneficiary). Land trusts are used by nonprofit organizations to hold conservation easements, by corporations and investment groups to compile large tracts of land, and by individuals to keep real estate ownership private, avoid probate and provide several other benefits.

A community land trust is a property trust which aims to benefit the surrounding community by ensuring the long-term availability of affordable housing.

The goal of conservation trusts is to perpetually preserve sensitive natural areas, farmland, ranchland, water sources, or notable landmarks.

A land trust is a useful way to manage complex divisions of a Bundle of Rights which people can own in real estate, and can be used to manage something as large and complex as a multi state REIT, or as common and small as a home.

Corporations often set up land trusts when they want to compile tracts of land without arousing suspicion or alerting people to their plans.

Individuals use land trusts mainly for privacy and to avoid probate. No one knows what a bank balance or stock investments are, yet anyone with an internet connection can look up a person's real estate holdings. The land trust also allows property to immediately pass to their heirs at the moment of death, rather than go through a long probate process.

Some of the other advantages of land trusts for individuals are:

Sales price of property can be kept off public records
Property taxes are lower if purchase price is private
Judgments or liens (such as IRS liens) against an individual's name are not lien against land trust property
Partners can more easily continue a project if one dies or is divorced
Interests can be transferred quickly without recording a deed
Managing a rental property is easier when a trustee can be blamed
Negotiating a purchase or sale can be easier when a trustee can be blamed
Liability on financing can be limited to assets of the trust
Investment trust companies hold property for investment purposes and non citizens who want long term access to land in Mexico often enter real estate trust agreements, called fideicomiso, with Mexican citizens, but land trust more often refers to a community scale organization. Community land trusts are established to provide low- and middle-income families access to affordable housing while conservation trusts protect environmentally, historically or culturally valuable places. Land trusts are also in place to protect farmland.

http://www.lta.org/ Land Trust Alliance : The Land Trust Alliance is a national cooridinating organization for more than 1,600 land trusts across the United States. The organization describes its mission as being the "convener, strategists, and representative of land trusts across America." The Land Trust Alliance is based in Washington, DC.

Real estate Index