New FinCEN Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule
What Is Changing?
Beginning March 1, 2026, if you are planning to purchase residential real estate either in an all cash transaction or by privately financing the purchase and you plan to have an LLC or corporation trusts own such property, then you must be report this transaction to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The purpose of this reporting requirement is to increase transparency in the U.S. residential real estate sector and to combat and deter money laundering.
When Does This Apply?
A report is required if ALL of the following apply:
✔ The property is residential (1–4 family home, condo, co-op, townhome, or residential land)1
✔ The purchase is non-financed (no bank loan secured by the property)
✔ The buyer is a legal entity (LLC, corporation, partnership) or trust; and
✔ No exemption applies (death, divorce, court order, etc.)
What Information Must Be Reported? NOTE: One report is filed per transaction.
The person filing the deed must report:
• Property details
• Seller information
• Buyer entity or trust information
• Beneficial owner information (name, DOB, address, Tax ID, citizenship)
• Total purchase price and payment details
These reports will be maintained by FinCEN in a secure database along with other Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reports and, like any other BSA report, will be subject to strict limits on use and redissemination. Real Estate Reports will not be accessible to the general public.
1 Properties are considered residential real property even if there is also a commercial element—a single family residence that is located above a commercial enterprise, for example. Additionally, certain types of land on which a residence is not yet built are also included if the transferee intends to build on the property
one or more structures designed principally for occupancy by one to four families
What This Means for You
If you are purchasing residential real estate through an LLC or trust OR our firm is helping you with the deed transfer to an LLC or trust:
• Expect requests from us (or from anyone preparing the deed) for beneficial ownership information
• Allow additional time for the deed to be recorded while this information is collected
• Expect increased fees to be collected as part of the filing fees.
• Expect that if it is determined that you are not exempt, then know that this filing cannot be waived
Exemptions
• Transfers are not reportable if they involve extensions of credit by financial institutions as those institutions that have to abide by their own reporting requirements2
.• Transfers incident to a divorce or dissolution of marriage or civil union
• Testamentary trusts created by Wills
• Transfers for no consideration made by an individual and/or the individual’s spouse into a revocable trust
Questions?
If you are planning to purchase property through an entity or trust, and need our firm to help you with the deed transfer, then please contact our office early in the process so we can coordinate compliance amongst our team. If we have advised you that you will need a deed transfer as part of your estate planning, then please expect additional time for us to gather the necessary information as well as increased filing fees to be compliant with this requirement.
2 But if the property already has a mortgage on it and our firm is now preparing the deed transfer to LLC or irrevocable trust, we will still need to abide by this additional reporting requirement in addition to obtaining lender consent.
