NEW Prepare for FinCEN’s Real Estate Reports with the summary and tools below.
Starting 3/1/2026, settlement agents must report all covered residential real estate transactions to FinCEN. A transaction must be reported if it meets all of the following conditions:
The buyer is a legal entity such as an LLC, corporation, partnership, or trust (not an individual).
The purchase is made without traditional institutional financing. This includes cash, cryptocurrency, seller financing, hard money loans, or private lenders.
The property is one to four unit residential real estate anywhere in the United States.
There is no minimum price. Even a one dollar sale must be reported if it does not qualify for an exemption.
Check any transaction for reporting requirements using this free tool.
Real Estate Reports (RER) must be filed electronically with FinCEN starting December 1, 2025, using the official PDF form or online process. The process requires notifying all parties of the filing requirements, collecting detailed information about the buyer, seller, and payment, and securely storing this data for five years. Filers must then complete and submit the form.
Manually completing each report typically takes between 2 and 6.5 hours, depending on the complexity of the transaction. This can be reduced to under 10 minutes with automation software or handled entirely by a managed service. More information is available here at FincenRealEstateReport.com for options to automate or offload this process.
The deadline to file is the last day of the month following the closing month, or 30 calendar days after closing, whichever provides more time. Most filers will have between 30 and 60 days to submit each report.
You can reduce liability and recover FinCEN Real Estate Report compliance costs using the methods below:
1. Require a Certification Form
Have buyers and sellers sign a certification confirming they are responsible for providing accurate information. This establishes reasonable reliance and documents that your firm relied on certified data. The form can also authorize compliance-related charges.
Recommended: Real Estate Report Certification Form (customizable template)
2. Document Reasonable Reliance
FinCEN permits reliance on certified information when:
You obtain written confirmation from parties verifying accuracy.
The certification clearly holds signers accountable for false or misleading data.
Signed forms are retained securely for at least five years.
3. Use Software or Managed Services
Automated platforms and filing services simplify compliance and reduce risk. They capture signed attestations with IP and timestamp tracking, or fully manage filings on your behalf, eliminating manual handling and liability exposure.
Free Webinars to Train Your Settlement Team on FinCEN’s New Real Estate Reports are available here.
Train your team on how to comply with FinCEN’s 111-field report, effective December 1, 2025. These specialized webinars cover:
Who is responsible for reporting and how to manage liability
How to explain requirements to buyers and sellers
Ways to reduce filing time from 2.5–6 hours to under 15 minutes
Identifying covered transactions and valid exemptions
Efficient methods for collecting and verifying required data
Step-by-step preparation using checklists and free tools
Each free session includes a live Q&A to address real-world questions from your staff.
According to FinCEN’s April 2024 estimate, preparing a Real Estate Report (RER) manually takes about 2 hours per transaction. This includes collecting information from buyers, sellers, beneficial owners, and payment sources, filling out the 111-field PDF form, verifying the data, and submitting it electronically. In more complex cases involving multiple parties or layered ownership, FinCEN states the process can take 4 to 6 hours or more. The cost to file is free, however, the process itself is the costly element of reporting.
With specialized compliance software, the time required can be reduced to just 5 to 10 minutes per report. Alternatively, a managed filing service can handle the entire process for you. For firms preparing 10 reports per month, this can save 20 to 60 staff hours. At an average rate of $150 per hour, that equals $3,000 to $9,000 in monthly time savings while improving consistency, accuracy, and compliance readiness.
Our filing team can operate the Real Estate Report software as a managed filing service or provide platform access to your team. More info at FincenRealEstateReport.com
Secure your CTA services on FincenFetch, a certified SOC 2 organization and FinCEN filing platform used by hundreds of U.S. accounting and law firms.
From the team behind FincenFetch
FincenFetch is part of the Advalis suite of compliance filing platforms. If your firm or your clients handle real estate closings, cross-border sales, or fund reporting, there’s a purpose-built tool for it.
ozfile.com
Opportunity Zone fund compliance for QOF sponsors and their CPAs — Form 8996 and investor Form 8997 workflows, semiannual 90% asset testing, and safe harbor reports.
fincenrealestatereport.com
FinCEN Residential Real Estate Reports for title, escrow, and settlement teams — automate the 111-field RER or offload it entirely to a managed filing service.
firptafox.com
FIRPTA withholding made manageable — Form 8288 and 8288-B workflows, withholding certificates, and remittance support for closings with foreign sellers.
FILE CLIENT BOI REPORTS SECURELY IN MINUTES
FincenFetch offers the highest level of features and workflow customization in the industry. Manage BOI reporting the way you want using our SOC2 secure cloud platform.
Quickly gather beneficial ownership information by sending clients a secure link or importing data first. Once collected, FincenFetch files your reports with FinCEN and provides confirmation transcripts. Our user-friendly portals guide business owners through the filing process, making it easy to understand regulations and submit accurate information. Information imports are simple and supporting with CSV files or API connections.
Choose a solution based on whether you charge customers or clients one-time payments or annual “CTA Compliance” fees. Our affordable solutions are crafted to fit your industry’s whether you’re an accounting firm, law firm, CAM, or filing service.
Select a number of EINs to support from 50/100/250/500/1000 or more for pricing between $55 and $25 per reporting company annually. Plans initial filings and unlimited updated reports. Upgrade tiers as you grow and enjoy discounts of about 50% on base costs in year two to make ongoing CTA compliance affordable for clients and profitable for your firm.
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Choose a CTA filing solution for your firm supporting white-labeled software, free client access, SOC2 secure filing support services, included FinCEN e-filing, APIs for integration, or referral options.
Enter the estimated number of companies you currently serve with other filing services to calculate your potential FinCEN filing revenue for 2024 and recurring revenue in subsequent years.
