Secretary of Treasury faces lawsuit from an ETX company
Posted/updated on: April 17, 2025 at 9:57 pm
TYLER – Our news partner, KETK, reports that a lawsuit has been filed by the East Texas Title Company in an attempt to block a rule requiring intrusive data collection and reporting for cash real estate purchases.
The lawsuit was filed against the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is operating under the supervision of U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent. In 2024, the network finalized a rule that would require companies to report information about non-financial real estate transactions, including personal information from everyone involved in the sale. The rule is currently set to go into effect in Dec. 2025.
Luke Wake, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation representing East Texas Title Company, spoke about how they believe FinCen is unethically collecting personal information from citizens.
“Congress cannot shirk its lawmaking responsibilities by granting federal agencies a blank check to write laws.” Wake said. “FinCEN is now mandating unreasonable collection and reporting of personal information to the federal government; the agency claims a sweeping power to require reporting on conceivably any consumer transaction simply because systematic reporting might prove useful to the government.”
East Texas Title Co. v. Bessent has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Their lawsuit is asking the court to rule that the new Treasury rule is unconstitutional.
