The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and its co-defendants, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have appealed the court decision that paused enforcement of its sweeping real estate transaction reporting rule.
In a May 11 filing submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay Combs formally appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals asking for summary judgement to overturn the March 19 memorandum order that found in favor of plaintiff Celia Flowers, owner of Texas-based Flowers Title Companies, LLC. That order vacated FinCEN’s Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers, also known as the Residential Real Estate Reporting Final Rule, pausing its enforcement.
The appeal filing was also signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian Garcia, in his capacity as attorney for the defendants in this case. The case is now expected to move onto the docket of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
FinCEN’s appeal comes on the heels of Fidelity National Financial’s own notice of appeal in the Eleventh Circuit after the Middle District of Florida upheld the rule. These appeals may lead to a split between federal appellate courts, possibly resulting in Supreme Court review.
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