FinCEN Reporting Requirements: What do Agents Need to Know?

Starting March 1, 2026, a landmark rule issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) expands anti-money-laundering oversight into the residential real estate sector. FinCEN is a U.S. Department of Treasury bureau that acts as the nation’s financial intelligence unit to detect and prevent financial crimes like money laundering. The rule requires certain “real estate professionals” to file a real estate report for non-financed transfers of residential property to legal entities or trusts. (Don’t worry — the “real estate professionals” referred to in the rule are not real estate agents but rather those closing the transaction.) This rule aims to crack down on criminals using real estate transactions to launder money. 

I learned everything I know about money laundering from three fundamental resources: The Wire, Breaking Bad and Ozark. The money laundering in these shows occurred via various business operations including a print shop, a funeral home, a car wash, a casino and some real estate investments. None of the money laundering involved buying a residential property in the great state of Wisconsin, but apparently that is an option too.

The rule applies to the sale of residential real property, including:

• Single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and 1–4 family units
• Co-ops
• Mixed-use buildings with residential components
• Vacant land intended for residential development 

These are transfers without institutional financing that would be subject to reporting rules related to anti-money laundering or suspicious activity. This means all-cash deals, sales that are privately financed or seller-financed transactions. Privately financed could include the money coming from a family member, a friend or even a charitable organization. Privately financed could also include funds from a “hard money” source such as an investment group. Seller financing could be a land contract or a mortgage provided by the seller. 

Any direct transfer to a legal entity like a limited liability company (LLC), corporation or a trust, rather than an individual, triggers reportability — regardless of the price.

Unlike prior Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) issued by FinCEN, which required reporting of certain high-value sales in select cities, this rule applies nationwide, with no minimum dollar amount. 

The rule defines a “reporting person” as the individual performing key settlement functions, such as preparing the closing or settlement statement. This typically includes title agents, escrow agents, attorneys or settlement officers. The closing agent, typically the title company, is responsible for collecting the information and for submitting the FinCEN report. If this information is not provided, the title company will close the transaction.

Agents do not collect this information. Buyers and sellers must provide it directly to the closing agent.

If the transaction is subject to FinCEN reporting, both sellers and buyers will need to provide the closing agent with the information and documentation necessary to complete the FinCEN report. For some parties, locating this information might mean tracking down trust documents, articles of incorporation for incorporated entities, and operating agreements for LLCs. 

Sellers must provide the following information to the closing agent so the agent can identify the seller/transferor:

• Individual sellers: Name, date of birth, address and Social Security Number.
• Trust seller: Name, date the trust was executed, IRS Trust ID Number, and the names, addresses and Social Security Numbers of the trustee of the trust. 
• Entity seller: Name, trade name, address and Taxpayer ID. 

Buyers must provide the following information to the closing agent so the agent can identify the transferee entity or transferee trust in the transfer, and the beneficial owners of the transferee entity or transferee trust:

• Trust buyer: Name, date the trust was executed, IRS Trust ID Number, and the names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security Numbers of the beneficial owners of the trust.
• Entity buyer: Name and trade name, address, Taxpayer ID, and the names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security Numbers of the beneficial owners of the entity. 

The cost associated with filing the report will depend on who is filing it and what they charge for the additional service. Federal law does not dictate who pays for the cost associated with completing the report. There is no charge to file the report, per se, but the reporting person completing the report prior to filing it will incur costs due to the time necessary to communicate to the parties what information is needed and the time to complete the report so that it can be filed. 

As mentioned earlier in this article, agents should not collect the information necessary to file the report. Parties should be providing that information directly to the closing agent, which will often be the title company. The nature of the information needed, such as Social Security Numbers and dates of birth, makes any communication including that information a prime target for identity theft, which is why the agent should never be the conduit for this information. What an agent can do, though, is educate buyers and sellers early in the transaction about what information will need to be provided to the closing agent in a reportable transaction so they can begin collecting the information that will be necessary to close the transaction.

To that end, the WRA has created the WRA-FD FinCEN Report Disclosure for Wisconsin Properties form. This form can be provided to buyers and sellers early in the transaction so they can determine if their transaction will be a reportable transaction and of so, what information they will need to collect to provide to the title company to close. 

The WRA-FD FinCEN Report Disclosure for Wisconsin Properties is available in Transaction (zipForm Edition) and the WRA Forms Library.

• Effective date: March 1, 2026
• Scope: Nationwide, no minimum price, covers most 1–4 family residential transfers to entities/trusts without institutional financing
• Responsibility: Settlement, title or escrow agents as well as attorneys