U.S. Government attempts to scare “secret buyers” in Miami-Dade County, Florida and Manhattan, New York

[VIDEO: Secret Real Estate Buyers May Become Scarce in Miami-Dade County]

The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a division of the U.S. Treasury Department, announced a temporary crackdown on secret real estate buyers in Miami-Dade and New York City. The Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) will temporarily require certain U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind the entities that pay “all cash” for high-end residential real estate in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, and Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Here’s What you Need to Know:

1. The GTO will run from March 2016 through August 2016.
2. The disclosure order applies to corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and “other similar business entities.”
3. The order does not apply to trusts
4. The order applies to homes valued at or above $1 million in Miami-Dade County, and at or above $3 million in Manhattan.

While the Government’s intention behind implementing the GTO is to reduce money laundering, the agencies fail to consider the inadvertent and unfortunate consequences this will have on the high end real estate market in South Florida. The order will have a particularly deleterious impact on the high end condominium market in Miami-Dade, which has long been a playground for the rich and famous. These new requirements are unchartered territory, but never fear, we are here to help you navigate through them.

Roy Oppenheim,

In The Trenches