The Residential Real Estate Report is a form that will need to be filed with FinCEN for certain transfers of residential real estate, under the new Residential Real Estate Rule.

The rule goes into effect on March 1, 2026, for all closings or transfers that occur on or after that date.

This rule applies to all non-financed transfers of residential real property to a legal entity or trust.

Per FinCEN’s definition, a “non-financed transfer” is a transfer that does not include an extension of credit that is both:
1. Secured by the transferred residential property;
AND
2. Extended by a financial institution that is subject to an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Program.

Under FinCEN’s definition of ‘residential real property’ includes all of the following:
1. One to four family residences;
2. Vacant land intended for building of a one to four family structure;
3. Units designed for one to four family occupancy within a structure (e.g. apartments, multi-use property);
4. Shares in a cooperative housing corporation.

No. This rule includes all transfers of ownership interest in real property for any amount, including transfers of ownership for which no consideration is exchanged.

There are a variety of transfers that are not reportable under the rule, including:
1. A transfer resulting from the death of an individual owner.
2. Transfers incident to divorce or dissolution of marriage or civil union.
3. A transfer supervised by a court in the United States.
4. Transfers to a trust for estate planning purposes.
5. Transfers that are a grant, transfer or revocation of an easement.

Additional information about exempt transfers can be found here on FinCEN’s FAQs.

The Settlement Agent is generally responsible for filing the Real Estate Report. However, this may vary by type of transfer and what real estate professionals are involved in the transfer. FinCEN has defined a reporting cascade that defines who is responsible for reporting an applicable transfer.

The Real Estate Report must include information about the reporting party, the property being transferred, the transferee entity or trust, the beneficial owners of the transferee entity or trust, the transferor, and information about the source of funds for any payments made by the transferee.

The beneficial owners of a transferee entity include any individuals who exercises control over the entity AND any individuals who, either directly or indirectly, own at least 25% of the entity’s ownership interest

Beneficial owners of a transferee trust include any individual who:
1. Is a trustee of the trust;
2. Has authority to dispose of trust assets;
3. Is a beneficiary who is the sole beneficiary of income from the trust OR who can demand distribution of substantially all assets from the trust
4. A grantor or settlor who has the right to revoke the trust or otherwise withdraw the assets of the trust
5. A beneficial owner of any legal entity or trust that holds at least one of the positions in the trust

Name, date of birth, residential address, citizenship, and taxpayer identification number is required to be collected for all beneficial owners of the transferee entity or trust.