FinCEN Reporting

 The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) now requires detailed reporting on non‑financed residential purchases made through LLCs, trusts, or other entities.

What is FinCEN?

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury that protects the financial system from criminal abuse, including money laundering and terrorist financing. Its core mission is to promote transparency and integrity across financial institutions.

FinCEN plays a vital role in shaping the regulatory landscape for banks, fintechs, and other financial service providers. By collecting and analyzing financial data, FinCEN helps design and enforce laws that businesses and consumers must follow to reduce the risk and impact of financial crime.

As the primary enforcer of the Bank Secrecy Act and related legislation, FinCEN ensures that institutions remain compliant and vigilant in detecting suspicious activity.

What does this mean for your transaction?

All title companies, including Scioto Title, are required by federal law to collect specific information when the buyer is a legal entity (like a corporation, LLC, or trust) in order to complying with national efforts to prevent financial crimes in all 50 States. Information reported to FinCEN is NOT public record.

Residential real estate transactions are reportable when they meet the following criteria and must be reported regardless of purchase price or the value of the property, including gift transfers. Transfers made directly to an individual are not covered by this rule.

The property is residential real property

Buyer/transferee is a legal entity, LLC, corporation, partnership, trust, trustee or other non-natural person

The transfer is non-financed, all cash, or without institutional lender financing

It’s also important to understand how FinCEN defines residential property and non-financed transactions. The term residential property can include certain types of vacant land and commercial real estate, while non-financed covers more than just traditional cash deals.

We keep your transaction moving toward closing.

As part of this new requirement, Scioto Title will collect key details and complete a report that we’ll file directly with FinCEN after closing. While this adds a step to the closing process, it will quickly become a routine part of transactions involving legal entities. Below are some examples of what data we will need to collect as part of these requirements:

Entity Buyer:

  • Entity legal name, address, jurisdiction & EIN
  • Individuals with 25%+ ownership
  • Individuals with substantial control (major decision authority)
  • If another company owns any part, identify the real people behind it

Trust Buyer:

  • Trust name, date executed & revocable or not
  • All trustees
  • Grantors who can revoke or withdraw assets
  • Beneficiaries who can demand money or withdraw substantially all assets
  • If a trustee is a company, identify the real people behind it

For Each Individual:

  • Legal name, date of birth & home address
  • Taxpayer ID (SSN or TIN)
  • Government ID
  • Buyers: How funds are paid (wire, check, etc.) and source account information for funds used (bank name and account number)
  • Sellers: Basic identifying information, including taxpayer ID