1 big thing: BOI Regs on the way

Starting January 1, 2024, intelligent real estate investors and Realtors must be prepared to adopt the protocols of Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting.

Why it matters: BOI reporting will impact almost 40 million businesses nationwide. Its goal is to boost transparency and accountability—aka thwart would-be money laundering schemes.

  • In 2021, the Corporate Transparency Act mandated future BOI reporting, and the future has arrived.

What does this mean for you? Do you operate an LLC, corporation, or limited partnership? If so, you must register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Yes, but: Trusts are exempt from these requirements. And:

FinCEN is going above and beyond to smooth out the industry’s transition to these new regulations:

What does this mean in speaking? Here’s what you need to remember:

  1. BOI reporting begins January 1, 2024.

  2. The collected data will not be part of the public record. Financial institutions must obtain customer consent if anyone wants limited access to the data.

  3. You’ll need to provide identification (driver’s license or passport in most cases) for each individual listed in your report.

  4. You can request a FinCEN Identifier to simplify future reporting.

  5. Filing is technically free, but business costs can range from $85 to $2600, depending on complexity. And, since time is money, it’s good to note that filing can take anywhere from 90 minutes to several hours.

Stay tuned for updates as BOI reporting rolls out. In the meantime, get ready to register.

2. Texting Laws Update: Clarity for Realtors and Investors

Connection is the name of the game in real estate, but under the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA), text messaging potential clients can lead to lawsuits.

At least until recently.

What happened?

  • A wave of litigation: In July 2021, there was a surge in class-action lawsuits surrounding unsolicited texts and calls after amendments to the FTSA.

  • This landed a lot of businesses—many in the real estate sector—in hot water.

  • We received several calls for help from some who were targeted by lawyers, threatening to sue for texting violations unless the errant Realtor or investor paid $10,000.00 or more to avoid the lawsuit.

And now? This year, the Florida Legislature dialed back (pun intended) the FTSA in a much-needed update.

What did they change? Here’s a quick top-five list of the updates:

  1. Consent redefined: Now, any act demonstrating consent can be considered consent. (No longer are we limited to just signatures.)

  2. Autodialer adjustments: Now, the definition of an autodialer aligns with the TCPA—e.g., systems that automatically select and dial numbers. Human-operated systems aren’t included in that definition.

  3. Safe harbor for texts: Only texts received after a “STOP” text are actionable, which will increase safety for investors or agents who receive the request to cease messaging.

  4. Retroactive relief: These updates will apply retroactively to any class action that isn’t yet certified, providing a possible avenue toward relief for people stuck in proceedings.

  5. Federal court access: According to recent rulings, the door to federal courts is open for these cases.

The bottom line: These changes create a safer environment for real estate professionals to use text messages as marketing. To de-risk the practice as much as possible, however, it’s critical to stay informed in case future updates change best practices again.

We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, here’s to safer texting in real estate!

3. Catch up fast

  1. If homebuyer demand is so weak, why are prices not coming down? HousingWire

  2. The Sunshine State won’t be getting up to $400 million in federal funding for low-income homeowners to install solar panels on their homes. Orlando Sentinel

  3. Weekly mortgage rates climbed closer to 8%. HousingWire

  4. Adjustable rate mortgage demand rises to highest level since 1995 as fixed rates climb. CNBC.

  5. Due diligence tips for commercial property investing. Bigger Pocekts

  6. Where in the U.S. are property taxes highest? HousingWire Data Digest

4. Pic of the day

For some of us, the weight of gratitude is so heavy that it often breaks longtime friendships apart.

Why it matters: It can be avoided by identifying when it’s happening and saying, “Thank you.”

I’ve caught myself in this situation a few times, and experiencing currently it with a friend whom we have provided with a lot of financial assistance over the past several years.

But there’s a mind trick I use to prevent myself from falling into behavioral patterns like this: “Name it to tame it.”

Behaviors like this can originate in the amygdala, our “lizard” brain responsible for fight or flight responses.

  • If you can catch yourself when the amygdala is pushing you to fight or flee, that’s where you can turn it around.

  • The brain’s prefrontal cortex — the rational thinking center — must be engaged to take control of the situation.

  • Using the name-it-to-tame-it trick engages the pre-frontal cortex.

In cases like this, I name it “the weight of gratitude,” to pull out of the fight or flight spiral. Once the emotional response has a name, it can be tamed by the brain’s rational part.

The bottom line: Name it to tame it can be used for all kinds of situations when you feel so much emotion about a business, personal, or familial issue that you can’t “think straight.” Don’t just save it for the weight of gratitude to drag out this mind trick. Think of what you could name other problems you’re facing right now.

We hope you found this helpful — any feedback is appreciated and can be shared by hitting reply or using the feedback feature below.

Be on the lookout for our next issue! 👋