'Secret' Real-Estate Investors Should Be Unmasked in Detroit, Too

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced this week that it will take an extraordinary step: it will begin tracking the so-called secret buyers who invest in ultra-luxe properties behind the screen of shell companies. Starting with Manhattan and Miami-Dade County—two of the hottest markets in the country—Treasury will require real-estate companies to disclose the names of buyers who make all-cash purchases or conduct transactions through limited-liability corporations, as The New York Times has reported.

The decision follows a February report in the Times that looked closely at some of the shell companies involved in the highest-end New York real-estate purchases and found that some involved foreign buyers who were caught up in various illegal enterprises, from corruption to organized crime. This rule would force them to identify themselves to real-estate companies and require real-estate companies to report them to Treasury.