New US rules try to make it harder to launder money by paying cash for homes

The United States Treasury Department has issued regulations aimed at making it harder for criminals to launder money by paying cash for residential real estate.

Under rules finalised Wednesday, investment advisers and real estate professionals will be required to report cash sales of residential real estate sold to legal entities, trusts and shell companies. The requirements won’t apply to sales to individuals or purchases involving mortgages or other financing.

The new rules come as part of a Biden administration effort to combat money laundering and the movement of dirty money through the American financial system. All-cash purchases of residential real estate are considered a high risk for money laundering.

Money laundering in residential real estate can also drive up housing costs – and rising home prices are one of the big economic issues in this year’s presidential campaign. A 2019 study on the impact of money laundering on home values in Canada, conducted by a group of Canadian academics, found that money laundering investment in real estate pushed up housing prices in the range of 3.7 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

Under the new rules, the professionals involved in the sale will be required to report the names of the sellers and individuals benefiting from the transaction. They will also have to include details of the property being sold and payments involved, among other information.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a news release that the new rules address some of the nation’s biggest regulatory deficiencies.

“These steps will make it harder for criminals to exploit our strong residential real estate and investment adviser sectors,” she said.

Ian Gary, executive director of the FACT Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes corporate transparency, called the rules “much-needed safeguards” in the fight against dirty money in the United States.

“After years of advocacy by lawmakers, anti-money laundering experts and civil society, the era of unmitigated financial secrecy and impunity for financial criminals in the US seems to finally be over,” Gary said.

The Biden administration has made increasing corporate transparency part of its overall agenda, including through creating a requirement that tens of millions of small businesses register with the government as part of an effort to prevent the criminal abuse of anonymous shell companies.

However, an Alabama federal district judge ruled in March that the Treasury Department cannot require small business owners to report details on their owners and others who benefit from the business.

AP