USA’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently renewed its real estate Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) for 12 metropolitan areas. These GTOs mandate that US title insurance companies identify the natural persons behind shell companies employed in all-cash residential real estate purchases.
GTOs provide important insights into residential real estate purchases by illicit actors. FinCEN believes that this renewal of the GTOs will help detect illicit funds and other criminal activities. It will also provide invaluable information to enhance FinCEN’s future regulatory policies in the real estate sector.
The terms of this renewal extend from May 5, 2021 to October 31, 2021. The GTOs, identical to those from November 2020, maintain the threshold purchase limit of $300,000 for the 12 metropolitan areas. The areas that the GTOs cover include Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.