The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) recently announced that reporting is now required for residential real estate transactions which are non-financed and the transferee is an entity or a trust. The new requirement, which applies to real estate transfers occurring on or after March 1, 2026, is part of its Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers rule (Residential Real Estate Rule), available at www.fincen.gov/rre. 

The new rule defines a reportable transfer as “a non-financed transfer to a transferee entity or transferee trust of ownership interest in residential real property.” Residential real property is property located in the U.S. which:

  1. Contains a 1-4 family house
  2. Is land on which a transferee intends to build a 1-4 family house
  3. Is a unit designed for occupancy by 1-4 families, or
  4. Shares in a cooperative housing unit.

Those required to report are termed “a reporting person,” defined as:

  1. The person listed as the closing or settlement agent on the closing or settlement statement for the transfer
  2. If not described above, then the person that prepares the closing or settlement statement for the transfer
  3. If not described above, then the person who records the deed or transfer documents
  4. If not described above, then the person who underwrites an owner’s title insurance policy for the transferee (such as a title insurance company)
  5. If not described above, then the person who distributed the greatest amount of funds in connection with the transfer (including from an escrow, trust or lawyers’ trust account)
  6. If not described above, then the person who provides an evaluation of the status of title, or
  7. If not described above, then the person who prepares the deed or transfer document.

Under the rule, a reporting person is required to file a Real Estate Report by the final day of the month following the month in which the closing occurred, or 30 calendar days after the closing date – whichever is later.

Transfers excluded from the new reporting requirement are: 

  1. Easements
  2. Transfers due to death, divorce or dissolution of a marriage or civil union
  3. Transfers to a bankruptcy estate
  4. Court-supervised transfers
  5. Transfers for no consideration made by an individual or with an individual's spouse to a trust which that individual, their spouse or both are the settlor(s) or grantor(s)
  6. A 1031 exchange in which a property is being transferred to the qualified intermediary, or
  7. No reporting person

However, if an employee, agent or partner acting within the scope of their employment, agency or partnership would be a reporting person as described above, then the individual’s employer, principal or partnership is deemed to be the reporting person. Any financial institution obligated to have an anti-money laundering program is not a reporting person.

To learn more about this new rule or to request assistance in complying with these filing requirements, simply contact us and we'll be happy to help.