Financial Regulation

The Federal Government Tried To Spy on Your Financial Transactions. A Texas Court Just Said No.

The ruling is a victory not just for one Texas title company, but for the principle that agencies like FinCEN can only do what Congress actually authorized.

Luke Wake | 5.15.2026 10:01 AM

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Let's say you've worked hard, saved money, and decided to buy a house to rent out. You want to purchase it outright, with cash, through an LLC to save thousands on financing costs and limit your personal liability. You're not laundering drug money. You're not funneling proceeds from some shadowy foreign government. You're doing exactly what millions of Americans do every year for perfectly boring, legitimate reasons.

Under a sweeping rule finalized by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in 2024, that kind of transaction would be automatically treated as "suspicious" and reported to the federal government. The rule would affect between 800,000 and 850,000 transactions per year, at a compliance cost of over half a billion dollars........

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