The disclosures

1. 2014October 2014Housing & Private Equity

   IRS stops seizing legal source deposits

   After the seizures were reported.

   Source: House Unanimously Passes Bill to Curb Civil Forfeiture by the IRSRead the full story →
2. 2015January 16, 2015Housing & Private Equity

   Justice Department bars most federal adoption of local seizures

   Reinstated July 19, 2017.

   Source: Attorney General Prohibits Federal Agency Adoptions of Assets Seized by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies Except Where Needed to Protect Public SafetyRead the full story →
3. 2017March 20, 2017Housing & Private Equity

   Treasury inspector general: rights read in 5 of 229 IRS structuring interviews

   $17.1 million forfeited from 231 people with legal money.

   Source: Criminal Investigation Enforced Structuring Laws Primarily Against Legal Source Funds and Compromised the Rights of Some Individuals and Businesses (2017-30-025), as summarizedRead the full story →
4. 2018November 2018Housing & Private Equity

   Blackstone spends $5.6 million to defeat California's Proposition 10

   The measure would have let cities expand rent control. The money came from Blackstone's investment funds, which are financed in large part by public employee pensions, including California's.

   Source: Why is Private Equity Buying So Many Homes?Read the full story →
5. 2019February 20, 2019Housing & Private Equity

   Timbs v. Indiana: excessive fines clause applies to the states

   A $42,000 vehicle taken for an offense with a $10,000 maximum fine.

   Source: Timbs v. Indiana, 586 U.S. ___ (2019)Read the full story →
6. July 1, 2019Housing & Private Equity

   Structuring forfeiture limited to illegal money by law

   The Taxpayer First Act.

   Source: Trump Signs Bill to Protect Small-Business Owners from IRS SeizuresRead the full story →

Stories (1)

• 2005 to 2019IRS "Structuring" Seizures: $242 Million Taken from Small Businesses for Cash Deposits Under $10,000Federal law makes it a crime to deposit cash in amounts under $10,000 in order to avoid the report banks must file on deposits above it, whether or not the money is legal. From 2005 to 2012 the IRS used that law to seize more than $242 million from more than 2,500 people. The Treasury's inspector general later sampled 278 of the cases and found no evidence of any crime other than the deposits in 91 percent of them. Agents interviewed the owners without telling them they could refuse, in most cases did not tell them why they were there, and ignored the explanations they gave. A dairy farmer lost $29,500 and a convenience store supplier more than $400,000. Neither was charged. The IRS stopped in October 2014; Congress made the change law in 2019.Housing & Private Equity