Key facts
- FinCEN's rule required reporting on non-financed residential real estate transfers held by an entity or trust, with no price or geographic threshold.
- A federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas vacated the rule in late March 2026, less than three weeks after it took effect.
- ALTA and TLTA argued the rule imposes costs on title and settlement professionals that its benefits do not justify.
- ALTA said FinCEN's $559.4 million cost estimate did not fully account for training, technology, record keeping and information gathering.
- FinCEN has said it will not require retroactive reporting for transactions that would have been reportable during the litigation.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's Residential Real Estate Rule is not in effect, and two title industry groups have asked a federal appeals court to keep it that way. In late October, the American Land Title Association and the Texas Land Title Association filed amicus briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit supporting a ruling that vacated FinCEN's nationwide anti-money laundering rule for residential real estate.