July 10, 2025
In This Issue:
- TLTA Submits Letter to FinCEN re: Residential Real Estate Report Rule and Form Effective Dec. 1
- MAP: U.S. Financial Crime Activity by State
- Legislative Update: CORRECTION - Foreign Ownership Bill Will Go Into Effect Sept. 1. Deed Fraud, Property Tax Reduction and 16 Other Issues Listed on Gov. Abbott's Formal Call for Special Session to Start July 21
TLTA Submits Letter to FinCEN re: Residential Real Estate Report Rule and Form Effective Dec. 1
TLTA | July 10, 2025
On Monday, TLTA submitted to FinCEN a
comment letter as part of the rule making process expressing our continued concerns with their new Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule and Form effective Dec. 1. The rule is aimed at detecting money laundering in certain residential cash transactions and greatly expands the current reporting requirements. It will have a time-consuming and costly compliance requirement for title agents
Read TLTA's letter to FinCEN »
Learn more about the new reporting rule scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1 »
Ready to learn more about these new reporting requirements?
Our on-demand webinar is available now. Presented by Leslie S. Johnson, CTIP, this program provides a general overview of what transactions are affected and what has to be collected and reported by title agents. Click below to register:
On-Demand Webinar: New FinCEN Residential Cash Transaction Reporting Requirements »
More in-depth compliance training on this new reporting requirement available from TLTA in September
TLTA continues to be your source for compliance training, so keep an eye out for more information from TLTA on a new, deep dive program designed for your whole escrow team to be presented in September.
MAP: U.S. Financial Crime Activity by State
Visual Capital and Inigo Insurance | July 4, 2025
Suspicious activity has been rising in the U.S., but is it spread evenly throughout all 50 states? Certainly not.
This visualization, created in partnership with Inigo Insurance, maps the number of Suspicious Activity Reports per 10,000 people, using data from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Review the report »
TLTA Editor's Note: This third-party visualization of FinCEN suspicious activity reports seems to confirm what we know: despite the high cost of compliance that Texas title agents will have to bear under these new reporting requirements, Texas has fewer instances of these crimes than many other states.
Legislative Update: CORRECTION - Foreign Ownership Bill Will Go Into Effect Sept. 1. Deed Fraud, Property Tax Reduction and 16 Other Issues Listed on Gov. Abbott's Formal Call for Special Session to Start July 21
TLTA | July 10, 2025
CORRECTION: Foreign ownership bill approved during 89th Legislative Session will be effective Sept. 1 (Not July 1, as reported in last week's Dateline)
Foreign ownership of U.S. real estate continues to be a hot button political issue, and once again this session Texas lawmakers filed bills attempting to address this controversial topic. TLTA and our building trades partners worked in tandem to provide guidance to lawmakers trying to find workable solutions for legislators to consider. In the end, lawmakers approved
SB 17, which will go into effect Sept. 1.
You can learn more about this new
foreign ownership prohibition here.
As reported in a previous edition of Dateline, earlier versions of these foreign ownership bills would have greatly impacted our industry when closing each transaction. Thanks to our community's good work and the leadership of the elected officials advancing these bills, SB 17 ensures that the integrity of title is maintained and that TLTA members are not deputized to enforce the law, conduct extensive due diligence, or face new liability.
Deed Fraud, Property Tax Reduction, and 16 other issues on formal call issued by Gov. Abbott this week for special legislative session to start July 21
This week, Gov. Abbott issued the formal proclamation calling for a special session to start July 21.
Learn more about the 18 issues currently on the special session's call:
Read the proclamation »
Read Gov. Abbott's press release »
Additional insights from Texas Tribune »
Among the bills on the special session agenda is
SB 648, a deed fraud bill supported by the county clerks association and passed by lawmakers during the 89th session. TLTA's advocacy team worked with legislators and the clerks to improve this bill prior to passage, and we are ready to continue that work during the special session.
Additionally, we str working with the governor’s office and Sen. West to seek expansion of the call and bills to include a special criminal statute on seller impersonation and deed fraud.
ICYMI: Housing affordability bills and more approved during regular legislative session that concluded earlier this summer
During Gov. Abbott's
State of the State address delivered in February, he identified housing affordability as a challenge that lawmakers needed to address during the legislative session.
While we've previously reported here in Dateline on housing-related bills passed during the recently concluded legislative session that will impact title industry operations, there are other housing bills you should be aware of that could impact housing in your community.
Legislators filed hundreds of housing-related bills this session attempting to reduce regulations, increase housing supply, and make it easier to afford a home. The following housing-sector bills were approved during the 89th Session:
SB 15 (local regulation of lot size)
SB 785 (reducing limitation on location of manufactured housing) (effective Sept. 1, 2026)
SB 840 (multifamily construction on property zoned for commercial / industrial)
SB 2477 (commercial to residential conversions)
HB 24 (zoning protest changes)
As previously reported here in Dateline. Lawmakers also approved a property tax relief package that will only be effective if Texas voters approve the measures on ballots this November. Learn more about the Texas Legislature's
property tax package here.