Good news from Washington rarely means the whole story is over, and this update is no exception. Ever since the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was enacted in 2021, community associations have had concerns regarding the CTA and its Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements. After years of shifting deadlines, litigation, and compliance uncertainty for community associations, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule permanently exempting U.S. companies and U.S. persons, including community association board members, from the CTA’s BOI reporting requirements. This is a significant and welcome development, but FinCEN’s rule is not the end of the story.
What the Final Rule Does
FinCEN’s August 11, 2026 final rule builds on an interim final rule the agency issued last year, which had already removed the BOI reporting requirement for domestic entities and their beneficial owners. The new final rule makes that relief permanent and adds important details. The takeaways for community association board members under the new rule are: if you are currently a board member, you are off the hook for BOI reporting; if you already went through the process of obtaining a FinCEN identifier, you do not need to go back and update or correct anything you submitted; if your association already filed a BOI report before this exemption or the previous temporary exemption took effect, you do not need to worry about that information sitting out there indefinitely (FinCEN has committed to deleting BOI it reasonably believes came from U.S. persons, which covers the vast majority of board members who filed in good faith over the past couple of years, and FinCEN is not asking anyone to reach out and request removal). However, one group this exemption does not apply to: foreign entities registered to do business in the U.S., which remain subject to reporting for their foreign individual owners.
For the overwhelming majority of Arizona community associations, which are formed as nonprofit corporations with U.S. citizen or resident board members, this means the BOI reporting obligation that has generated so much confusion is no longer active, and boards that already filed will eventually see that information removed from FinCEN’s database.
Why This Is Not the Same as Repeal
It is important for boards to understand exactly what changed and what did not. The CTA itself remains a federal statute. FinCEN’s final rule is a Treasury Department regulation interpreting and applying that statute, and a regulation, no matter how favorable, is not a repeal. The Treasury Department has the authority to exempt categories of filers from BOI reporting through rulemaking, but it does not have the authority to erase the CTA from the U.S. Code. Only Congress can do that.
This distinction matters because regulations can change again. Future rulemaking, under this administration or a future one, could revisit who is exempt and who is not. Associations should treat the current exemption as durable relief under existing law, not as a guarantee that reporting obligations can never return through a future rulemaking change.
The Legislative Path: H.R. 425
The more permanent fix remains in Congress. Representative Warren Davidson of Ohio introduced H.R. 425, the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, which would fully repeal the CTA and require FinCEN to delete BOI data for individuals and entities that are not reporting companies within 90 days of enactment. The bill has garnered significant bipartisan support and was approved by the House Financial Services Committee earlier this year. It is now positioned for consideration on the House floor.
What This Means for Your Association Right Now
Boards currently do not need to file a new BOI report, and associations that already filed do not need to take further action to correct or update that filing. Associations should still retain records confirming their prior compliance efforts, including any BOI reports filed before the exemption took effect, in the event questions arise while the CTA remains a federal law and its regulatory treatment continues to evolve. The attorneys at CHDB Law will continue to monitor developments on H.R. 425 and any further FinCEN rulemaking, since a change at either the legislative or regulatory level could once again affect reporting obligations.
This is a positive outcome for the volunteer board members the CTA was never designed to reach. But until Congress acts, the underlying law remains in place, and associations should stay informed rather than assume the issue is permanently closed.
The attorneys at CHDB Law will continue to monitor developments on the Corporate Transparency Act and will provide updates as they become available. If you have questions about your association’s prior BOI filings, please reach out to the firm for assistance. Call us toll free at (800) 743-9324 or email moc.walbdhc@ofni.
The information contained in this article is not intended to be legal advice and is provided for educational purposes only.