LEGAL TALK with Angie Knight 5/4/26

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Time to drop the gavel. It's legal talk with Angie Knight from the Grand Strand Law Group on the Liz Callaway Show. Next summer, talk for the entire Grand Strand.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

All right, and Angie Knight is here with lots of big announcements. Good morning. Good morning. So, um, you know, Angie, uh there's a lot of real estate stuff going on. Uh I think that I think it's kind of picking up around here. Things are articles in a lot of articles in the media about how we are a hot spot over and over and over again. We've always been a hot spot. Yeah. Every every year. But some places are dropping off. Like there's a lot of houses for sale in Florida. That was a hot spot. Now it's not.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Um, and and here we are. We're getting the halfbacks.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

It's crazy. Yeah. We're ready for it.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yeah, absolutely. So, what are you seeing from your real estate law side of things?

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Well, there are a lot of uh listings, right? So it's just a matter of finding the right buyer and having the right agent to do so, really. You've got to find somebody who's gonna go out there and market your place.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Yeah. And there's a lot of creative ways people are doing that now, of course, with drones and social media videos and all that. And so um that is uh real estate seems like is it is it a little trickier than it used to be? Because of title issues and other contracts, you know, changes and all that. What do you see happening? What do we need to know?

SPEAKER_02 1:29

I tell you, everything is harder these days. Not just real estate, everything is. Um, you know, there's always title issues these days, um, and it just takes the right person to figure it out. Um, you know, you may need we're but we're selling a lot of land like out in Loris and stuff, and a lot of that is land that hasn't been touched in a long time. So you may have to have surveys, you may have to have, you know, check the family history and do a deal with estates and things like that. So every closing is a little bit more difficult than they used to be.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Okay, yeah, absolutely. All right, so tell us about I said that you had some big announcements to make about your law firm.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Yes, we have a new attorney. All right. Her name is Dina McCory, and um she has a uh history of doing corporate law and litigation, and so we're really excited to have her, and uh we're excited about see how that goes and and what all it brings to the table.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Okay. So um now what are some of the things that you wanted to share with us regarding um what she's doing or you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

So she's probably gonna be doing a little bit more litigation. So we're gonna add a little bit more litigation to our mix of you aren't really totally doing. We're not doing family law, guys. No family law, no litigation for family law. Okay. Um, but you know, we could do corporate litigation, real estate litigation, any of those things. Um, you know, quiet title actions, even. Um, we've been doing those. Um we're gonna keep those, uh keep on doing those, and uh it's gonna be pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Okay. All right. So if anybody has any questions about real estate law, what kind of real estate litigations come up?

SPEAKER_02 3:02

Well, mostly you would talk about like if there was a tax sale, you might need to do a quiet title action after that. I don't know what that means, a tax sale. So if it was sold for taxes, non-payment of taxes. Yeah. Okay. Um, so we do those in the office. Um if you have heirs property, um, property that's been passed down and nothing's actually been done in probate court for a long time, um, then you would have to have a quiet title action. So we do those. And um uh you might have um someone who's uh doing foreclosure, maybe they're dealing with foreclosure action. Um and then she's also gonna help us though with probate litigation. So I'm excited about that. Give myself a little bit of relief.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Okay. Um sometimes uh what happens? Is there like uh like uh something wrong with their will or no will? Like why does the things get difficult in probate?

SPEAKER_02 3:53

It could be any number of things. It could be a will contest, it could just be um a disagreement as far as values of the property, that sort of thing. You never know what's gonna come up in probate.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Okay, you know, sometimes people have to buy out another family member to inherit the property together.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

We do a lot of that. You know, a lot of our probates turn into real estate files as well because someone wants to buy the other other owner out.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so um so that's for sure. Now we have our budget blinds text line open for questions and uh 843-798 TALK 798255. So um some people are interested uh in becoming a landlord. For example, they have a low interest rate, they need to move, they don't want to give uh give up their great investment, you know, and they think maybe I'll become a landlord.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Well, and if they do, then they need to consider an LLC, they need to have a good rental agreement. Um if we do an LLC, uh the question becomes can we put the property in the LLC or does it need to remain in their name, right? Which is most likely the case if they have a mortgage on it. So then we might long term lease it to their LLC and then their LLC would lease it to the to the uh tenants.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Oh, I was wondering about that. Okay. So you so if it has a mortgage on it, it has to remain in your name.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Yeah, unless it you know sometimes the banks will let you move it over into LLC, but but it's not often.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Okay. And then do you need special insurance? Do you need like, you know, you're gonna become a six percent taxation if you're not it's not your primary.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

If you're not living there, it's gonna be at six percent tax. Um you're gonna want a you're gonna let your insurance company know so that they can cover you for slip and falls and things like that. You know liabilities. Um so they have a renter's insurance, not not for the renter, but a landlord tenant uh insurance policy, so to speak.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Okay, that's interesting. And um, what about having to pay property taxes and all that? Um do you have to pay for all the things that are in the home every year as if it's a business?

SPEAKER_02 5:58

So if you are gonna do it as an LLC, yes, you're gonna have to pay personal property taxes. Um even if you don't do an LLC, it's still a business. You're you're renting it out, so you may have to pay personal property taxes if you keep furniture fixtures and appliances. And that's not just meaning I'm gonna rent it furnished. No, that means you have an oven, you have a fridge. Those are personal property items when it comes to a business.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Yeah, and then you also have to get a business license in the county and or city that you are running this quote unquote business. Yes, yes. Yeah, so uh is that something you help people from ground up? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

We can point them in all the right directions.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Okay, excellent. We have a question on the Budget Blinds text line, 843-798-talk 798-8255. We're speaking with Angie Knight of the Grand Strand Law Group.

SPEAKER_04 6:46

Uh, you may have kind of addressed this, but this person needs clarification. How long do you need to live in your house to become a primary in South Carolina? This is after selling the house in the other state.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

So to get the primary residency, 4%. Um you just have to you just have to call it your own. You there's no time limit. Okay. Now you are gonna have to present to the tax office um taxes that were filed in South Carolina. So they would if you present them all the other documents that they need, change of driver's license, all those good things, um, then they will give you a temporary four percent if you don't haven't done your taxes in South Carolina yet. But the next year, if you don't present your taxes from South Carolina, then they will take away your four percent.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Ah.

SPEAKER_04 7:28

Another one, my son just filed for bankruptcy. Can I do a trust with him on my house? Will that affect his bankruptcy? He lives in Michigan and has a home there.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

So if she's talking about doing a trust and putting her house in it and making her son a successor trustee, then yes, if that's what we're talking about, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

It's gonna it's going to impact.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

No, it's not, it won't impact him at all. Because it's almost as if it doesn't exist. If it's a revocable trust and she puts her house in it, everything's still under her social. So it's there's no actual transfer of ownership to him. He's a successor trustee, you know, he's not even in charge of it until she's gone. So it would not affect him.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

You know what's what's funny though, and maybe you can explain this to me, because um when I was buying my house in 2021, my mother had put her house in a trust, in an irrevocable grantors trust. And what happened was um I was the trustee, is I am the trustee. And what happened was when they pulled all my records, it came up, and the mortgage company wanted to know what is this trust in your name? Right. What is my name in it?

SPEAKER_02 8:39

Because it was irrevocable and you were the current trustee. In her situation, it sounds like he's probably gonna be a successor trustee, and then that would not show up. Okay. And hers would be revocable. So the trust wouldn't even show up. Yeah, the trust wouldn't even show up if they pulled, you know, records. Okay. Um, and then um she would still be the trustee, so he would not have any authority.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

All right. Um all right. Well that was see, these things are su they have all these little nuances. Yes. And that's why when, you know, people say, Oh, I'm just gonna do it online, it's so cookie-cutter and it's so not custom designed for your issues, your concerns, your asset structure, your family structure.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Yeah. You know, I mean, the online stuff I see, it's it's never really what you needed. That's really the case. If we see something that was created online or by the client themselves, it's never truly what they needed. Yeah, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Okay. Um, any uh do we have a question here?

SPEAKER_04 9:40

Yeah, we do. This has to do with uh is it verbo? Is that how you pronounce that? That's a home. Yeah, that home vacation rental thing. Verbo? Yeah, this person said, what about a verbo? I'm assuming going back to what you were speaking of before residency and rentals and all that.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

So if I was gonna do a VRBO, then I would do the same thing. If the house was in my current name, I would not want to, you know, necessarily make any changes. All these short-term rental I would long term lease it to my LLC and then short term lease it to um, you know, the VRBO people who show up. Because you that's really what you're doing when you have a VRBO account.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

So it insulates you, but does it totally protect you if in the bottom, you know, you are the actual owner on there?

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Well the LLC is the one that's contracting with the tenant.

unknown 10:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

So it's res totally responsible for what's happening. Right. But you have to put in your rental contract to your LLC that they're allowed to subcontract.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

And sublease. Because yeah, I mean, most people who rent a home don't.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

And of course you would want to make sure that your lease is clear that you know it's all the tenant who's responsible for any damages for subleasing, you know, that sort of thing. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

All right. Any other questions, Nicky?

SPEAKER_02 10:56

Uh we're caught up.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

All right. Okay. Anything else you want to add uh about any of your locations? You have one on Broadway Street in Myrtle Beach, Main Street in Loris.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

We just hired another real estate paralegal in North Myrtle, so that's fun.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

All right. On Main on uh Highway 17 in North Myrtle. All right. So um anything else that you want to add about uh up and coming?

SPEAKER_02 11:18

We just keep growing. Yeah. Yeah, trying to get it all taken care of. I tell you what, it's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Well, you've built you've built quite uh a business. I mean, since I've known you in the last 13 years, I mean, think of got two extra locations and a lot more attorneys.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

You know, you know, I started it in uh what 09 and built it up, and then you know, for the first 10 years it was just me, and then in 2020 I got Lacey, and um she's been my ride or die ever since. She's helped, she's really been a catalyst for the business to grow as much as it has. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

A lot of people, you know, they don't realize that as business art because you're also not only are you focusing on law and helping people, yeah, but you're also running a business. Running a business. And uh duplicate. I love that part. I love that part. That's awesome. All right, well, Angie Knight of the Grand Strand Law Group, go to Grand StrandLawgroup.com. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

The Liz Callaway Show with Nick Summers, making Grand Strand Morning Radio great again. Back in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Jason and Jonathan of Revive the Hive is are they ready? They're ready to get your home whipped into shape, whether it's a renovation of a kitchen, a bathroom. Maybe you want to put an extension on your home, or I don't know, put a whole floor on top of your home. Why not? They can help guide you through all of that. Now, are they doing all the extension part and hammering the nails? Maybe. But they also are like contractors, and what they do is they help you um, they navigate the whole process for you, all the logistics for you. So if you want to find out more about Revive the Hive and how they can help you design, revive, rejuvenate, renovate, get with Chris, their design manager, who can flesh out the whole design in a beautiful computerized drawing so you can see what it looks like before you actually even take the sledgehammer and make those changes. If you want to find out more, go to revive the hive sc.com.

SPEAKER_03 13:14

The Liz Callaway Show with Nick Summers. We'll be right back.