US president Joe Biden is planning to crush corruption in the US real estate market.
The White House is paying particular attention to all-cash transactions in commercial and residential real estate, which senior officials warned were often conducted through shell companies and used to launder money.
It has proposed a nationwide expansion of reporting requirements that currently apply to all-cash purchases of residential properties valued at $300,000 or more in 12 metropolitan areas.
In a statement yesterday, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said: “Given the relative stability of the real estate sector as a store of value, the opacity of the real estate market, and gaps in industry regulation, the US real estate market continues to be used as a vehicle for money laundering and can involve businesses and professions that facilitate – even if unwittingly – acquisitions of real estate in the money laundering process.”
Before it drafts any legislation or regulations, the government is seeking input on which types of real estate should be subject to scrutiny, the dollar value threshold, the geographic scope of the rules and who should be subject to reporting requirements, among other queries.
