A dent in high-end housing sales followed a federal crackdown on secretive purchases in the Miami area, but experts attribute the lag to market fluctuations rather than the Treasury Department’s geographic targeting order, which kicked in March 1.
Miami-Dade County’s cash-happy housing market fell under federal scrutiny when Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network required title companies to peel back a layer of secrecy on luxury home purchases. Aiming to halt the flow of laundered money, FinCEN mandated the disclosure of the names of people behind shell companies in cash deals north of $1 million.
