NO HOLIDAY CHEER IN THIS DECISION: US COURT OF APPEALS LIFTS CTA INJUNCTION
NEW FILING DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JANUARY 13, 2025
Adding to the already confusing landscape surrounding the Corporate Transparency Act’s (“CTA”) filing requirements, on December 23rd, the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals lifted the nationwide stay regarding the filing requirements.
Although the Court did not address the merits of the constitutional arguments (this will be argued at a later date), the Court stated that it believed a nationwide stay of the filings was not appropriate and that the Federal District Court overstepped its authority by issuing the order.
In reaching its decision, the Court also decided not to extend the filing deadline, however, FinCEN voluntarily extended the filing deadline to accommodate the loss of several weeks requiring all incorporated reporting companies to file their beneficial ownership information reports at a minimum by January 13, 2025. However, as MEEB has previously stated, the CTA regulations are likely not applicable to unincorporated associations and those entities formed by declaration of trust.
To summarize, here are the options for our association clients:
Any association can file the beneficial ownership information report for free through our secure portal located on our website at meeb.com. Simple filing instructions can be accessed on our website and several hundred of our associations have been able to file themselves without issue.
Any association can also file directly through the FinCEN website and there is no filing charge to do so.
If your association would like MEEB to assist with your filing, please contact your specific MEEB attorney or you may reach us at law@meeb.com and we will be happy to do so.
If your association is formed as a condominium trust or unincorporated association, and the Board does not want to file, you may obtain a written opinion from MEEB with regard to whether your specific association needs to file. Please contact your specific MEEB attorney or you may reach us at law@meeb.com and we can further discuss this with you.
Although there has been some fear mongering surrounding this issue through over emphasizing penalties for non-compliance, we continue to counsel our clients to not panic. At a minimum, the CTA filing is very easy to do and only requires basic information from individuals to complete. Importantly, from MEEB’s perspective, those condominium and homeowner associations that are not incorporated entities, are likely not reporting companies and therefore will not need to file. If there is any concern about not filing, associations can certainly file the report easily and as stated there are multiple options to do so.
There may be further updates and changes as this issue continues to evolve and MEEB will monitor and alert you of any material developments.