CTA
Official notice from FinCen and BOI- (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and Beneficial Ownership Information):
Received from CAI Dec 4: YYAAAAYYYYY
Dear Gloria,
I’m writing to inform you that on Dec. 3, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas published a decision in the matter of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Garland, et al. issuing a preliminary nationwide injunction against the Corporate Transparency Act (Act).
The court granted Plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction, blocking the U.S. Department of Treasury from enforcing the act’s beneficial ownership information reporting requirements.
In his opinion, Judge Amos L. Mazzant III grants the Plaintiff’s request to preliminary enjoin the Government from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act and its Implementing Regulations, ruling that “Neither may be enforced, and reporting companies need not comply with the CTA’s January 1, 2025, BOI reporting deadline pending further order of the Court.”
This preliminary injunction applies nationwide, halting enforcement and compliance of the Act’s beneficial ownership reporting requirements across the entire United States. CAI’s legal team believes the injunction applies to all community associations incorporated within the U.S.
CAI will continue its unwavering commitment to protecting the community association housing model and our members’ interests. We firmly believe the act’s requirements place an excessive burden on community associations, which operate differently from traditional corporations and small businesses. We will continue to pursue a full repeal of the act or exemption to protect the community association housing model as well as the privacy and personal information of its volunteer leaders. This is good news today, but it isn’t the end of the story. Please continue to watch for messaging about any further developments by visiting www.caionline.org/CTA.
Plaintiffs in the Texas Top Cop Shop case made similar arguments to those made in CAI’s federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Treasury, Secretary Janet Yellen, and the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The plaintiffs argued the act was an overreach of Congress’s authority over the states, improperly compelling speech and contradicting the right of association guaranteed by the First Amendment and violating the Fourth Amendment by forcing the disclosure of private information. Judge Mazzant’s opinion cites arguments and rulings from CAI’s pending federal case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to substantiate his ruling.
For community association board members who have taken advice from industry professionals and already complied with the act’s reporting requirements, you have taken the responsible route. We recognize the situation is complex especially because we are so close to the reporting deadline. We continue to believe that exempting community associations from the act is in the best interests of CAI member communities.
The full opinion can be found here. For more information on CAI’s pending lawsuit, advocacy efforts, and the act’s impact on community associations, visit www.caionline.org/CTA.
Thank you for your continued support as we work to protect the interests of our members and communities nationwide.
Sincerely,
Thomas M. Skiba, CAE
Chief Executive Officer
Community Associations Institute
Beneficial Ownership Ownership Information Reporting Form
https://www.fincen.gov/boi Information
https://boiefiling.fincen.gov/ the form
Corporate Transparency Act: Mandatory Reporting for Community Associations Due by January 1, 2025
Oct 15, 2024
The Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) is a federal law designed to address money laundering and corruption and requires reporting of business ownership information to the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. While there have been lobbying efforts to remove community associations from the application of the CTA, the ultimate results of those efforts remain unknown while the deadline to file of January 1, 2025 draws ever closer risking significant penalties for non-compliance. What does it mean to comply with the CTA when you are a community association? Attend this webinar and learn the essential elements of the CTA and what it is you need to know to ensure that you do not accidentally violate federal law. • Learn what information you need to report. • Learn when you need to file your report and update your report. • Understand the penalties for non-compliance and who is liable. Original Air Date: 10.8.24
SPEAKERS:
Allison L. Hertz Shareholder West Palm Beach ahertz@beckerlawyers.com
Steven H. Mezer Shareholder Tampa smezer@beckerlawyers.com
J. David Ramsey Shareholder Morristown Additional Location: New York dramsey@beckerlawyers.com FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: https://www.beckerlawyers.com/classes/
Transcript on YouTube
Nov 14 from CAI Exchange: "While many questions remain regarding the legitimacy of the Corporate Transparency Act, we do know this: If not revoked and if no changes are made, community association board members will be required to register with the federal government by Jan. 1.
Nov 15, 2024
I'm staying FAR away from gathering any personal information from any of my client Board members. Each are getting their own and just sending me the number and the date it was obtained. Once I have it, I'll file the report for each association and NOT be charging for it!!!!! Dave Norton, CMCA®, AMS® Sedona, AZ
Corporate Transparency Act: Mandatory Reporting for Community Associations Due by January 1, 2025
From email: A Message from the CAI Executive Director, Dawn M. Bauman, CAE, Executive Director, Foundation for Community Association Research
Corporate Transparency Act Survey Insights
The survey also explored member awareness of the Corporate Transparency Act. Results showed:
78% of respondents are familiar with the act.
80% of community association board members expressed discomfort with the government’s use of the personal information required under the act with 58% feeling “very uncomfortable” and 22% feeling “somewhat uncomfortable.”
Enacted by Congress to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, the act mandates most entities, including community associations, report sensitive personal information to the federal government. However, there are growing concerns these reporting requirements could discourage volunteerism among board members. CAI is actively advocating for the exemption of community associations from these obligations.
Nov 14 from CAI Exchange: "While many questions remain regarding the legitimacy of the Corporate Transparency Act, we do know this: If not revoked and if no changes are made, community association board members will be required to register with the federal government by Jan. 1.
Nov 15, 2024
I'm staying FAR away from gathering any personal information from any of my client Board members. Each are getting their own and just sending me the number and the date it was obtained. Once I have it, I'll file the report for each association and NOT be charging for it!!!!! Dave Norton, CMCA®, AMS® Sedona, AZ
If you're worried about identity theft
From CAI Exchange
Nov 10, 2024 6:11 AM.
Just to clarify, the Corporate Transparency Act is a federal law and has nothing to do with the State. The information you provide will not be stored in any state-level database but instead will be stored with the federal government, and it is not publicly accessible. Please see below directly from FinCEN regarding when your information will be accessible:
In accordance with the Corporate Transparency Act, FinCEN may permit access to beneficial ownership information to:
Federal agencies engaged in national security, intelligence, or law enforcement activity;
State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies with court authorization;
Officials at the Department of the Treasury;
Foreign law enforcement agencies, judges, prosecutors, and other authorities that submit a request through a U.S. Federal agency to obtain beneficial ownership information for authorized activities related to national security, intelligence, and law enforcement;
Financial institutions with customer due diligence requirements under applicable law (in order to facilitate compliance with those requirements); and
Federal functional regulators or other appropriate regulatory agencies that supervise or assess financial institutions with access to beneficial ownership information (in order to supervise such financial institutions' compliance with customer due diligence requirements).
FinCEN published the rule that will govern access to and protection of beneficial ownership information on December 22, 2023. Beneficial ownership information reported to FinCEN is stored in a secure, non-public database using rigorous information security methods and controls typically used in the Federal government to protect non-classified yet sensitive information systems at the highest security level. FinCEN will continue to work closely with those authorized to access beneficial ownership information to ensure that they understand their roles and responsibilities in using the reported information only for authorized purposes and handling in a way that protects its security and confidentiality.
Paul Formella, J.D., UChicago Law School