Buying property in United States as a foreigner

• Property of persons blocked under OFAC sanctions, and entities 50% or more owned by them, cannot be transferred or dealt in without OFAC authorisation.
• OFAC defines property to include real property.
• Applies whatever the nationality.

• Florida, Fla.
• Stat.
• 692.203: a foreign principal (the government of a country of concern, a political party there, an entity organised or based there, or a person domiciled there who is not a US citizen or lawful permanent resident, plus persons with a controlling interest in certain Florida real property entities) may not directly or indirectly own or have a controlling interest in real property on or within 10 miles of a military installation or critical infrastructure facility in Florida.
• A natural person who is a foreign principal may buy one residential property up to 2 acres that is not on or within 5 miles of a military installation, if holding a current verified US visa not limited to tourist travel or asylum documents, in that person's own name, and must register with the Department of Commerce within 30 days.
• Owners from before 1 July 2023 had to register by 31 December 2023.
• Late registration costs USD 1,000 a day.
• An unlawful purchase or knowing sale is a second degree misdemeanor and the property may be forfeited.
• Countries of concern named in 692.201: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, the Maduro regime in Venezuela and Syria.

• Texas SB 17 (89th Legislature, Property Code Subchapter H, sections 5.251 to 5.259, effective 1 September 2025, acquisitions on or after that date only).
• Prohibited: a governmental entity of a designated country; a company or organisation headquartered in or controlled by the government of a designated country, or majority owned or controlled by prohibited persons or designated by the governor; an individual domiciled in a designated country (limited exception for a lawfully present resident buying a homestead); a citizen of a designated country domiciled elsewhere and not naturalised; a citizen unlawfully present in the US; a non US citizen acting as agent of a designated country; a member of its ruling party. 'Designated country' means a country identified by the Director of National Intelligence as a national security risk in at least one of the three most recent Annual Threat Assessments, or one designated by the governor.
• Real property covers agricultural, commercial, industrial and residential property, water rights and minerals.
• Excepted: US citizens and lawful permanent residents, entities owned or controlled by them (if no prohibited person is an owner or controller) and leaseholds under one year.
• Enforcement by the Attorney General: action against the property, divestiture through a receiver, a state jail felony for an individual who knowingly acquires, and a civil penalty on a company of the greater of USD 250,000 or 50% of the market value of the interest.
• A violation does not void the transaction.
• The bill names no country in its operative text; the countries are set by the Director of National Intelligence assessments and the governor.

• North Carolina Farmland and Military Protection Act (Session Law 2026 to 54, House Bill 133, ratified 1 July 2026, approved 7 July 2026, sections 1 to 3 effective 1 April 2027).
• A prohibited foreign party may not purchase, acquire, lease (one year or longer) or hold a direct interest in agricultural land or in property within a 50 mile radius of a named military installation (Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point, Seymour Johnson, and others listed in the Act, plus National Guard facilities).
• Prohibited foreign party: the government of a country in 22 CFR 126.1(d) or a state controlled enterprise; entities or trusts organised under such a government; entities or trusts anywhere with a significant interest or substantial control (33% or more, or 50% or more in aggregate) held by those; agents and fiduciaries.
• Excepted: entities with a CFIUS no unresolved concerns determination or a national security agreement, and de minimis interests such as under 10% of a class of listed equity.
• Holdings from before the effective date, or before a country is added to 126.1(d), may continue but must be registered with the Secretary of State; late registration costs at least USD 1,000 a day.
• Land acquired by devise, descent or foreclosure must be sold within one year.
• Buyers sign an affidavit at closing.
• Enforcement by receivership; a knowing seller commits a Class 2 misdemeanor.
• The Act is aimed at governments and entities, not at individuals as such.

• Arkansas Act 636 of 2023 (Ark.
• Code 18 to 11 to 701 to 705, approved 11 April 2023).
• A prohibited foreign party, defined to include a citizen or resident of a country subject to 22 CFR 126.1, a foreign government formed there, entities organised under such a government, entities in which such persons hold 33% or more, and entities of particular concern designated by the State Department, may not acquire agricultural land (outside municipalities, farm, ranch, timber) by grant, purchase, devise or descent, whatever the intended use.
• A resident alien of the United States (residing in Arkansas) may hold it on the same terms as a citizen.
• Violation: divest within 2 years, then the Attorney General sues and the court orders a judicial foreclosure sale; a felony punishable by up to 2 years or a USD 15,000 fine, or both.
• Section 18 to 11 to 110 separately bars a prohibited foreign party controlled business (50% or more owned) from acquiring any interest in land in the state, with a 2 year divestment period.

• Louisiana R.S.
• 9:2717.1 (Acts 2023 No.
• 464, amended by Acts 2026 No.
• 845): no foreign adversary or person connected with a foreign adversary may purchase, lease or otherwise acquire immovable property in Louisiana, for contracts after 1 August 2023. 'Foreign adversary' means an individual or government identified in the federal Commerce determination (the statute cites 15 CFR 7.4(a); the current eCFR text of the determination is at 15 CFR 791.4: China including Hong Kong and Macau, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and the Maduro regime) and in the OFAC database.
• Excepted unless the person is an agent of a foreign adversary: US citizens, lawful permanent residents and persons lawfully present, entities wholly owned by them, and one to four family residential property bought by a natural person.
• The Attorney General may seek an injunction or a court ordered sale; sellers, title insurers, lenders and agents have no duty to investigate.

• Oklahoma, 60 O.S. section 121 as amended by SB 1705 (effective 1 November 2024): no alien, other non citizen or 'foreign government adversary' may acquire title to or own land (oil, gas and minerals excluded) directly or through a business entity, trust or foreign government enterprise, except as provided in the statute, with an exemption noted for a business entity engaged in regulated interstate commerce or holding a CFIUS national security agreement. 'Foreign government adversary' means a government designated by the US Secretary of State as hostile or a Country of Particular Concern.
• Every recorded deed needs a notarised affidavit of compliance, with listed exemptions.
• Escheat was changed to foreclosure.

CFIUS real estate rule (31 CFR Part 802): purchases, leases or concessions by foreign persons of covered real estate can be reviewed. Under 802.216 the following are excepted real estate transactions: covered real estate within an urbanized area or urban cluster (except real estate subject to 802.211(a) or (b)(1)), and a single housing unit with its incidental fixtures and adjacent land, plus purchases by excepted real estate investors and certain commercial space.

• Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA): foreign persons who acquire, transfer or hold interests in US agricultural land report to USDA.
• Current regulation 7 CFR 781.4: late reports pay one tenth of one percent of fair market value per week, up to 25%; incomplete, false or missing reports up to 25%.
• USDA proposed a replacement part 5100 on 25 June 2026 (docket USDA 2026 0001, comments closed 10 August 2026): an initial USD 250 penalty, then additional 1.5% (2.5% for a foreign adversary or foreign adversary controlled entity) steps up to a 25% aggregate cap, a wider reporting scope including leases of more than one year.
• Not final.