The Closing Day RRE Checklist: Before, During, and After

Do not wait until closing day to figure out if a transaction is reportable. Run the four-question test when the file opens or as soon as you have basic deal terms. Who is the buyer (individual or entity)? How are they paying (bank mortgage or not)? What kind of property (residential or commercial)? Any exemptions?

Document the determination even if the answer is "not reportable." A written record for every closing showing that you asked the questions and reached a reasoned conclusion is your best evidence of a functioning compliance process. It takes two minutes per file. Skipping it creates a gap you cannot fill later.

Walk the seven-tier cascade for this specific transaction. Who is the closing or settlement agent? Who prepared the settlement statement? Who will file the deed? In most transactions, the title company is at Tier 1 and files the report.

If a different party should file, get the designation agreement signed before closing. The agreement must be written, specific to this transaction, and between parties who are both in the cascade. Do not leave filing responsibility ambiguous. "We'll figure it out after closing" is how filings get missed.

This is the part that takes the most time and causes the most delays. As soon as you know a transaction is reportable, send the beneficial ownership certification form to the buyer. You need the full legal name, date of birth, residential address, citizenship, and Social Security or ITIN for every person who owns 25% or more of the entity or exercises substantial control over it.

Send it alongside your other opening paperwork, not as an afterthought three days before closing. Buyers need time to gather this information, especially for entities with multiple owners. Follow up aggressively. If the deadline passes without this data, you still have to file, and an incomplete report creates its own problems.

Closing day itself is a quick checkpoint. Did the buyer entity change since you opened the file? Did the financing terms change from all-cash to bank-financed (or vice versa)? Did the property or deal structure change materially? If anything changed, re-run the four-question determination. If nothing changed, confirm and move on.

This is a sanity check, not a full re-analysis. It takes 30 seconds for a routine transaction. But terms do change between opening and closing, and a last-minute financing change can flip a reportable transaction to not-reportable or the other way around.

The filing deadline is the later of two dates: 30 calendar days after the closing date, or the last day of the month following the month of closing. Example: if you close on March 15, thirty days later is April 14, and the last day of the following month is April 30. The deadline is April 30 (the later date). If you close on March 31, thirty days later is April 30, and the last day of the following month is also April 30. Same deadline.

File through the BSA E-Filing system at bsaefiling.fincen.gov. You need to register for an account if you do not already have one. Download the Real Estate Report form and complete it in Adobe Acrobat on your computer (it does not work correctly in a browser PDF viewer). Submit electronically. Set calendar reminders for the deadline the day you confirm the transaction is reportable.

Keep the following for five years from the date of the reportable transfer: the beneficial ownership certification from the buyer, any designation agreements, your determination record, and supporting documentation for exemption claims if applicable. You do not need to retain a copy of the filed report itself because FinCEN already has it.

Five years is the minimum. Store records in a way that is organized and retrievable, not buried in email threads or scattered across personal drives. If you are ever audited or examined, the examiner will ask to see your determination records and certifications. Being able to produce them quickly demonstrates compliance. Scrambling to reconstruct them from memory does not.