If someone who receives SSDI has rental properties transfers them to individual LLCs for better liability protection, will the rental income from the properties, now paid to the LLC, and then transferred to the SSDI recipient as the owner of the LLC, somehow convert from being passive income to earned income for the SSDI recipient?

Hi. No. As long as the income is rental income, it would be considered as unearned and wouldn't adversely affect a person's Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits. The only way that receipt of rental income through a corporation could be problematic is if it gets paid out to the SSDI recipient as wages from the corporation, or if the SSDI recipient incorrectly reports the income as self-employment on his or her individual tax return.

Best, Jerry