During the past decade, it has become increasingly popular for  home buyers—particularly those with bold-faced names—to shield their identities with LLCs and trusts. By using an LLC, a privacy-minded person can (usually) prevent sleuths from salmon-colored papers like this one from dredging up their purchase from city records and exposing how much they paid and what their new kitchen looks like.

But while such identity cloaking has become all but de rigueur for the celebrity buyer and a matter of preference for other press-averse people, the cost of privacy is poised to go up considerably. That’s because the city’s co-op and condo tax abatement, which has been enjoyed by nearly all co-op and condo owners at a sizable 17.5 percent since 1996, will no longer be available to those who own their apartments through LLCs or trusts. The change will mean considerably higher taxes for some 7,700 property owners. Read More