On October 26, 2022, FinCEN announced the renewal and expansion of its Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) that require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used in all-cash purchases of residential real estate. The terms of the GTOs are effective beginning October 27, 2022, and ending on April 24, 2023.
FinCEN renewed the GTOs that cover certain counties within the following major U.S. metropolitan areas: Boston; Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; New York City; San Antonio; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle, the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Maryland (DMV) area; as well as the City and County of Baltimore, the County of Fairfield, Connecticut, and the Hawaiian islands of Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai; and has expanded the geographic coverage to counties encompassing the Texas cities of Houston and Laredo. The purchase amount threshold remains $300,000 for each covered metropolitan area, with the exception of the City and County of Baltimore, where the purchase threshold is $50,000.
According to FinCEN, the GTOs continue to provide valuable data on the purchase of residential real estate by persons possibly involved in various illicit enterprises.
Read the FinCEN’s full announcement here.
