Accused of being a moron for suggesting DBA ???

[R083RT]

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 **** 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.

[Harold Mansfield]

The minute I got called a moron, I'm out. I don't want to work with anyone who feels free to speak to me like that and quite frankly they should consider themselves lucky that I don't immediately high tail it over their office for even thinking that they could speak to me that way.

None of the other stuff matters. You should not work with people who have that level of disrespect for you. Period. End of story. Game over.

If this is your boss, then I can understand not immediately going off on them. So in that situation, even if you know you're correct...let it go and let them make the mistakes. Nothing else you can do.

I've had the pleasure over the years of watching a number of bar owners and managers refuse to listen to sound advice and fall flat on their face. It's actually quite satisfying when they dismiss you and speak to you that way. Just sit back and watch it happen.

[nealrm]

I'm very much with Harold on this. I would start looking for a new job today with a start date of immediately. Once I had the new position, I would tell your current boss the evening before. It's very clear the she is an abusive boss and not worthy of a 2 week notice.

The suggest itself it really not relevant once she started calling you name and being abusive. However, to answer your question getting a DBA is minor in most states. The suggestion wasn't a bad idea and defiantly didn't deserve the name calling.

[Davidl]

Also agree.

If thats whats going on through something so small, thats a precursor to whats going to be going on when things get more complicated.

It probably looked to her like you were trying to make her sound stupid, even though its just herself that can't accept she doesnt understand. Calling you a moron sounds like something moron would do.

[broudie]

Some of these property management companies have mandatory **** classes for their employees.

You are of course right, but as a property manager it's not your problem unless part of your job is to give out legal documents for the tenants to sign (which is where a DBA is useful in your situation).

I myself run an LLC and have a couple of websites and products under different names. I only DBA'd those businesses that required me to send legal docs to customers regularly. For B2B transactions, the counterparty usually understands that the name of your business may not be the same as your LLC so it's OK.

[shrinkme]

It sounds like they are ill informed but you are not going to change the owner's mind. I think it was a good suggestion because a DBA doesn't change a thing about the underlying business.