Staten Island Law (dot com)

A few weeks ago, I wrote about FinCEN's new Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule a while back. Well, here's the update: a federal court just threw the whole thing out. At least temporarily. Flowers Title Co., LLC v. Bessent was decided on March 19, 2026, in the Eastern District of Texas.  You'll recall that the rule was supposed to take effect on March 1, 2026, and it would have required closing attorneys, title companies, and other "reporting persons" to file reports on all-cash residential transfers involving LLCs, corporations, or trusts. The court found the rule was overly broad and that the administrative record didn't support it. FinCEN also couldn't show a clear statutory basis for the rule in the first place. So now we wait. Will a higher court reverse? Will Congress get involved? Will FinCEN come back with something narrower? My guess is they'll appeal, and at some point FinCEN will try again with a revised version that addresses the court...

Creative Fraud “My Loan Officer said I’m not allowed to get money back at closing, but they can write the check to you, you can put it in your escrow account, and then you can write the check to me.” “My parents are giving me the Down Payment as a gift, but after the closing I’m going to pay them back. That still counts as a gift, right?” “If I sign the Owner-Occupancy Affidavit at closing, how long do I actually have to live there?” “The Seller agreed to give me $15,000.00 after closing for repairs, but my Loan Officer said not to mention that in the Contract.” “My Mortgage Broker said that if the appraised value comes in low, we can just change the Contract price for the Bank and keep our real deal on the side.” “I know the funds need to be sourced, but if I deposit the cash in increments under $10,000.00, that should make things easier, right?” “In order to keep the price under a million, I’ll pay the Seller $100,000.00 for furniture so I can avoid the Mansion Tax.” “I am no longer ...