Fall, Forms & Final Rule

Hello Members!

Some industry news to share this week so please read on! But before that……who else was surprised to see Halloween stuff in the stores in the past few days??? Oh yeah. That is less than two months away……

Here's the important stuff.

Broker Commission Changes. We are all talking about the changes in how real estate commissions must now be handled as a result of the settlement entered into between NAR and a group of class action plaintiffs. Florida Realtors is working hard to support its Realtor members and has issued several forms that can/should be used to address the requirements of the settlement. Fund Members that handle residential closings and/or interact with Realtors should get familiar with these forms. We recently hosted a webinar at which the new forms were reviewed and discussed. If you missed it, you can access it in our Legal Education Library. Here's a link to the program. https://www.thefund.com/ondemand/legal-education/new-florida-realtors-forms

FinCEN Rule Finalized. Remember when I talked about this proposed rule earlier this year? Well, FinCEN has issued the final rule. A couple of highlights to remind you of what this is all about:

• Cash closings of residential property in which an entity or a trust is the transferee MUST BE REPORTED.
• No dollar threshold.
• Applies NATIONWIDE.  No geographic restriction.
• Clear obligation to report falls on the "settlement agent."
  • There are some nuances to this, but basically, it's YOU if you are handling the closing.
• The required form (called the Real Estate Report) must be filed electronically by the later of the final day of the month following the month in which the closing occurred or 30 calendar days after closing.
• Information on both the transferor and the transferee is pretty detailed and is more than currently required under the Geographic Targeting Orders in effect.
• Effective date:  December 1, 2025.

So we have plenty of time to get ready. And I assure you, The Fund will provide you with the information and training you will need to comply with the new rule. Stay tuned for those webinars and other training opportunities. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the implementation and compliance process, so give me some time to gather that information and share it with you. But for those of you who are curious about the details, here is a link to the rule as published in the Federal Register (includes a lot of introductory information; the new rule itself starts on p. 70290). 
https://www.thefund.com/TheFund/media/PDFs/GeneralCounsel/FinCEN-Final-Rule-Aug-2024.pdf

That's all for this week.

Let me know how we can help you.  And we will try……..

Melissa Jay Murphy
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer,
and General Counsel