The FinCEN Anti Money Laundering Ruling will hugely impact the settlement industry, being as we are first on the cascade! FinCEN has just reported that they have submitted their Real Estate Report (RER) form to OMB and invites us ALL to submit comments before July 7th. Their notice in full is as follows:
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Treasury to Publish 30-Day Notice for the Residential Real Estate Rule's Real Estate Report
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, on behalf of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), will submit the Real Estate Report (RER) information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), on or after the date of publication of this notice. The details included in the information collection are listed in the notice.
The Residential Real Estate Rule, which will be effective on December 1, 2025, requires select real estate professionals to submit reports and keep records about certain high-risk, non-financed transfers of residential real property to specified legal entities and trusts. This data will support the U.S. Department of the Treasury, law enforcement, and national security agencies in addressing illicit finance vulnerabilities in the U.S. residential real estate sector. It will also help curtail bad actors' ability to use American residential real estate as a tool to anonymously launder and store illicit funds, which distorts housing prices and threatens U.S. economic and national security.
The public is invited to submit comments on this information collection request on or before July 7, 2025.
Federal Register Notice: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/06/05/2025-10263/agency-information-collection-activities-submission-for-omb-review-comment-request-real-estate
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The #CaliforniaEscrowAssociation and #EscrowInstituteofCalifornia have jointly, sent out previous comments. Here are some of my thoughts and concerns presented to my two trade organizations
- The constitutionality of the Ruling
- There are at least two known lawsuits filed to date
- The reporting should be extended unitl the Courts decide on its consitutionality but
- If Courts decide we should go ahead and the RER collection form is approved by OMB, it should be put on their secured website as a Direct Client Portal so that clients' privacy is assured. Entities in cascade responsible to ascertain that they collect a statement downloaded from portal that their submission has been done.
Settlement and title agents should all be very concerned as we are at the halfway mark of the 12/1/2025 start of the ruling. It behooves us all to take active part and publicly voice our concerns.
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Juliana Tu, CSEO, CEO, CBSS, CEI, SASIP
President and Escrow Manager
Viva Escrow! Inc.
Arcadia, CA 91006
www.vivaescrow.comhttps://julianatu.com------------------------------