Well, if you give them an inch, they will take a mile.  The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s little obscure branch, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), is flexing its muscles.

I told you in an earlier email that you would get to know FinCEN as well as you know the IRS. It’s happening. Now not only do you have to register every entity that you have or create (not including most trusts), but you will also have to register your real estate transfers. I did a YouTube video on the entity registration requirements. If you haven’t seen it, you need to. I am preparing another one walking you through the registration form itself.

These guys are dead serious, and they have bigger teeth than the IRS. 

Today, FinCEN announced it is pushing through a new rule to “combat and deter money laundering in the U.S. residential real estate sector.” The new rule will require reporting of information to FinCEN about non-financed transfers of residential real estate to legal entities or trusts.

I will track this as it comes down. But if they throw in the kind of fines and penalties that the “Beneficial Ownership Interest Reporting” (BOIR) now has in place for basically any legal entity that has a state filing requirement, then it will be a big deal.

They will now basically have record of your land trust or your living revocable trust.  The current BOIR is giving them total information on all of your LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships, and other entities. Privacy in an LLC is now totally nonexistent.

It looks like they are going for everything. I will keep you posted.