Comment by JoshTriplett
2 days ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46532004
It costs relatively little to create an LLC. This is not an uncommon pattern for people in groups commonly targeted by hate-motivated doxing and similar attacks. This is not a "rich-person trick", and if you can afford a house, the cost of an LLC is a very tiny expense by comparison.
LLC annual registration is up to $800/yr in CA, including foreign LLC's. I don't think $800/yr for privacy is a "very tiny". Not to mention you would need to pay an owner of record, probably a professional, to have their name on the LLC.
EDIT: A quick web search shows that an estimated annual cost of $50-$400 for a registered agent in CA. So the cost is closer to $1k/yr.
Living in California is expensive in general. Average LLC costs in the US are under $100.
> Not to mention you would need to pay an owner of record, probably a professional, to have their name on the LLC.
Whether that is public record depends on the legal requirements in your state. And in any case, costs for registered agent services are typically comparable to the costs of an LLC.
I have an LLC registered in Nevada. I neither live there, nor do business there.
Most states allow for this - I don't know about California, though.
This is an often conjectured example. California allows for that, but it falls under a foreign LLC registration to get it recognized by the state. It turns out that the annual foreign registration fee matches the in-state one. So this ends up costing more if you want it to be enforceable.
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I’d need to see numbers about how many such people cannot otherwise be found online. If we all pay higher mortgages and rent to subsidize those who use loopholes, it’s only possibly worth it.
hate-motivated doxing? That doesn't sound like a real thing except for maybe famous people, so we're basically back to rich people.
You are factually incorrect, and attempting to invalidate real people's horrifying experiences. "Existing on the internet" != "famous", and "famous" != "rich".
This technique is used by a very solid fraction of people who's job is to do things that are somewhat bad for either a lot of people or very bad for a few people.
So your local cops, everyone on every local commission except the secretary, journalists, payday loan and tow company owners, etc.