The U.S. Treasury Department has postponed enforcement of its new residential real-estate reporting rule until March 1, 2026, issuing a temporary exemptive order to give the industry more time to prepare.
The delay by the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) moves the start date roughly four months beyond the previously scheduled December 1, 2025 deadline.
FinCEN said the pause is intended to “reduce business burden and ensure effective regulation,” while maintaining protections against money laundering and other illicit finance risks in the real-estate sector. The agency emphasized that existing Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) for certain markets will remain in force during the interim.
The Exemptive Relief Order—issued under 31 U.S.C. § 5318(a)(7) and 31 C.F.R. § 1010.970(a)—formally exempts “reporting persons” from all requirements of the Residential Real Estate Rule until March. As a result, transfers that would otherwise be reportable and that close before March 1, 2026 do not need to be reported, the bureau said.
The regulation targets non-financed residential property transfers to legal entities or trusts (e.g., all-cash deals) nationwide, replacing the prior patchwork of GTOs issued by the bureau. The filing obligation belongs to a single “reporting person” drawn from a reporting cascade of professionals typically involved in real-estate closings and settlements.
Under the rule, the designated person must file a Real Estate Report by the last day of the month following closing or within 30 days of closing, whichever is later). Reporting persons must retain the transferee beneficial-ownership certification and any designation agreement for five years, though the report itself need not be retained.
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