Deadlines are nearing, but there's a slim chance you won't have to meet them. What to do. What to do.
We're referring to the Corporate Transparency Act. We've reported on the dramatic effect it can have on your condo or HOA.
In
this tip, we check in with our CTA experts to see if there's been any relief for boards trapped in this law many call overbroad.
In fact, there has been
movement on the CTA, reports Danielle Wang, of counsel at the law firm of Sands Anderson PC in Williamsburg and Richmond, Va., and the leader of its community associations team. "That's in the form of a case, National Small Business United v. Yellin, out of the Northern District of Alabama," she explains. "The court said the CTA exceeded Congress's power and issued a declaratory judgment and
injunction.
"But just because one district court has made a decision, that decision doesn't apply to the rest of the country," explains Wang. "In particular, the injunction enjoins the federal government only in regard to one business owner
that's part of that case and other individuals who are part of the NSBU."
Also, FinCEN, the organization tasked with enforcement, has announced it will enforce the CTA's requirements consistent with the court's order. In other words, it's
not enforcing against the parties in the case but continuing to do so for the rest of those affected by the act, until it's otherwise directed.
"So that judgment is limited to only that jurisdiction," says Wang. "And even if it was broader,
the injunction is limited enough that I don't think it excludes community associations from enforcement yet. Industry groups are lobbying hard to carve out exceptions for community associations or for clarification from the federal government to exclude community associations.
"They're also lobbying for bills protecting small businesses and for the Protecting Small Business Information Act," she adds. "There are a number of bills floating around to address this."