家族办公室见解：FinCEN的新住宅房地产报告规则

FinCEN’s New Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule Global – April 2026 Real estate is a critically important asset classto many family offices. Our global Real EstatePractice monitors market and regulatorydevelopments in the real estate sector aroundthe world to provide our clients with real-timeinformation and expertise. What Constitutes a “Non-financed Transfer”? A transfer of residential real property is considered “non-financed” if either (1) no financing was used at all, or (2) anyfinancing received by the transferee is neither secured by thetransferred property, nor extended by a financial institutionsubject to FinCEN’s AML program requirements and suspiciousactivity reports (SAR) obligations. Thus, transfers that arefinanced by financial institutions that have an obligation tomaintain an AML program, and are required to file SARs are notsubject to additional reporting under the RRE Rule. However,transactions involving cash purchases or financing from privateparties (such as debt funds and other sources of private credit)will require reporting under the RRE Rule. This month, the US Department of the Treasury’s FinancialCrimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) implemented itsResidential Real Estate Reporting Rule (RRE Rule), a new anti-money-laundering (AML) reporting obligation that applies tocertain residential real estate transactions in the US, and wehave summarized the RRE Rule and its requirements below. Reporting Requirements and TimelineUnder the RRE Rule Introduction to the RRE Rule Effective March 1, 2026, FinCEN implemented the RRERule, a new AML reporting obligation that applies to certainresidential real estate transactions across the US. The RRERule will require specified categories of professionals involvedin real estate closings and settlements to submit reports (RealEstate Reports) to FinCEN regarding certain non-financedtransfers of residential real property to legal entities or trusts.Specifically, a Real Estate Report must be filed when thefollowing four conditions are met: (i) the transaction involvesresidential real property; (ii) the transfer is non-financed; (iii)the property is transferred to a legal entity or trust and (iv) noexemptions apply. The individual required to file the Real Estate Report withFinCEN under the RRE Rule is known as the “ReportingPerson”. On the Real Estate Report, the Reporting Personmust submit information to identify the Reporting Person,the real property being transferred, the transferee entity ortrust (including, if the transferee is a trust, the identity of anyentity trustee), the beneficial owners of the transferee, certainindividuals representing the transferee and the transferor. TheReporting Person must also report the total consideration paidfor the property, along with other specified information aboutthe payment made by transferee. While the parties of the subject transaction may enter awritten “designation agreement” electing an individualto serve as the Reporting Person, if no such designationagreement is entered, there is a “reporting cascade,” whichprioritizes the individuals who must serve as the ReportingPerson. The reporting cascade ranks those individuals inthe following order: (i) the person listed as the closing orsettlement agent on the closing or settlement statement;(ii) the person that prepares the closing or settlementstatement for the transfer; (iii) the person that files with therecordation office the deed or other instrument that transfersownership of the residential real property; (iv) the personthat underwrites an owner’s title insurance policy for thetransferee with respect to the transferred residential realproperty, such as a title insurance company; (v) the personthat disburses in any form, including from an escrow account,trust account or lawyers’ trust account, the greatest amountof funds in connection with the residential real propertytransfer; (vi) the person that provides an evaluation of thestatus of the title and finally (vii) the person that prepares thedeed or, if no deed is involved, any other legal instrument thattransfers ownership of the residential real property, including,with respect to shares in a cooperative housing corporation,the person who prepares the stock certificate. What is Residential Real Property Underthe RRE Rule? For the purposes of the RRE Rule, “residential real property”is defined as real property containing a structure designedprincipally for occupancy by one to four families. Thisdefinition includes an individual unit within a larger residentialstructure designed principally for occupancy by one to fourfamilies. Critically for real estate developers and investors,the RRE Rule also applies to raw land where the transfereeintends to build one or more structures designed principallyfor occupancy by one to four families. However, this definition does not encompass transactionswhere an entity purchases developed lots, if the developeronly intends to hold the lots as a “landbank,