Does our HOA have to file a beneficial ownership (BOI) report with FinCEN?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 5, 2026

No, not under FinCEN's August 2026 final rule for U.S.-formed HOAs. What to do if your board already filed, how to spot BOI scam letters, and what still applies.

Part of the HOA board handbook: treasurer and money.

The short answer for a U.S. association

No. An HOA formed in the United States does not have to file a beneficial ownership information (BOI) report with FinCEN, and it does not have to update one it filed earlier. FinCEN issued a final rule on August 11, 2026 that made permanent the exemption it first granted in an interim final rule published March 26, 2025. The final rule took effect August 14, 2026. Under it, every entity created in the United States is exempt from BOI reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act. The only entities still required to report are companies formed under a foreign country's law that have registered to do business in a U.S. state, and even those do not report U.S. persons. That covers incorporated HOAs, condominium associations and unincorporated associations alike. Your declaration, bylaws and state law still govern everything else the board files, so treat this guide as general education, not legal advice for your community.

Why your board may have been told to file

If a prior treasurer filed a BOI report in 2024 or early 2025, they were following the rules as written then. FinCEN's own FAQ answered the HOA question with "it depends." An HOA that was never created by a filing with a secretary of state was not a reporting company. An incorporated HOA could claim the tax-exempt entity exemption only if it qualified as a section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Most HOAs file Form 1120-H instead and do not hold 501(c)(4) status, so FinCEN said an incorporated HOA without that status "may fall within the reporting company definition." FinCEN also said it expected at least one person to exercise substantial control over each HOA, and it listed senior officers and important decision makers. In practice that meant the president, the treasurer, and sometimes the whole board ended up named in the report. That is why directors with no ownership stake were asked for copies of their IDs. None of that applies now.

If your HOA already filed a report

Do nothing with FinCEN. The final rule says U.S. persons who obtained a FinCEN ID do not have to update or correct the information they submitted, and the association has no duty to file an updated report when directors change. FinCEN also announced on August 11, 2026 that it will delete the information U.S. persons previously reported from the BOI database. Do three small things on your side instead: 1. Find the filing confirmation and put it in the corporate records folder with a one-line note that the report is no longer required. 2. Tell any director who obtained a FinCEN ID for the filing that they have nothing to keep current. 3. If a former treasurer kept the BOI login or the ID documents of other directors in a personal email account, ask them to delete the copies. Those scans are exactly the kind of personal data the association should not have scattered across old inboxes. Do not pay anyone to "withdraw" or "close out" the old report. FinCEN offers no such service and does not require it.

Letters and emails demanding a BOI filing

If the association gets a letter or email that cites the Corporate Transparency Act, warns of penalties, and asks for a filing fee or a director's ID, treat it as a scam until proven otherwise. FinCEN states that it does not contact the public to request payment by phone, text, email or mail, does not send unsolicited messages, and does not demand immediate payment. When one arrives: - Do not click the link, call the number in the letter, or send any director's personal information. - Check the current status yourself at fincen.gov/boi. If you want to confirm a message is real, FinCEN says to submit an inquiry through fincen.gov/contact. - Report the impersonation to the Treasury Office of Inspector General and the Federal Trade Commission, as FinCEN advises. - Log it in the board's correspondence file so the next treasurer recognizes the pattern. Owners who hold rental homes through their own LLCs are targets for the same pitch. If one of them mentions a letter, a short item in the next newsletter helps everyone and costs the board nothing. Wording you can copy: "Some owners have received letters demanding a fee to file a 'beneficial ownership report' with the federal government. Under FinCEN's 2026 final rule, companies formed in the United States no longer file these reports, and FinCEN says it does not contact the public asking for payment. Please do not pay or send ID documents. You can check the rule yourself at fincen.gov/boi."

Your bank's ownership form is a different rule

Ending BOI reporting did not end the bank's own customer due diligence. When the association opens an account, federal rules at 31 CFR 1010.230 still require the bank to identify beneficial owners of a legal entity customer, including one individual with significant responsibility to control, manage or direct it. The regulation lists a president, vice president and treasurer as examples. That is why the bank still asks for the treasurer's or president's name, address, date of birth and ID when you open or change an account. Answer the bank. Its form goes to the bank, not to FinCEN's BOI database, and the bank can refuse to open the account without it. Our guide on moving HOA accounts to a new bank walks through that certification and the February 2026 FinCEN order that lets a bank skip repeating it when an existing customer opens another account.

The state filings that still apply

The federal filing went away. The state ones did not, and a lapse there can hurt the association far more than a missed BOI report ever would have. Check what your state requires: - Florida. Every nonprofit corporation files an annual report with the Division of Corporations between January 1 and May 1 each year under Fla. Stat. 617.1622. It lists the principal office, mailing address and the directors and principal officers. Under Fla. Stat. 617.1421, a corporation that never files is administratively dissolved on the fourth Friday in September. - Texas. A nonprofit corporation files a report only when the Secretary of State asks for one, and the Secretary of State may require it no more than once every four years under Business Organizations Code 22.357. Answer the request when it comes. Property Code 209.004 separately requires a current management certificate. - Colorado. Every association registers annually with the Division of Real Estate under C.R.S. 38-33.3-401. A registration lasts one year, and an association that fails to register loses the right to impose or enforce an assessment lien, or use its other enforcement tools, until it registers again. Associations with $5,000 or less in annual revenue skip the fee but still must register. Other states have their own corporate reports and HOA registries. Our guide on what an HOA annual corporate report is covers the general picture and what happens when a filing lapses.

Put the decision on the record

A future board member will hear about BOI from a neighbor or a scam letter and ask whether anyone checked. Answer that question once, in the minutes, at the next regular meeting. A sample entry: "The treasurer reported that under FinCEN's final rule issued August 11, 2026, effective August 14, 2026, entities formed in the United States are exempt from beneficial ownership information reporting. The association is a [state] nonprofit corporation and has no BOI filing obligation. The prior report filed on [date] requires no update. The board directs the secretary to file a copy of the rule summary with the corporate records." Then add one line to the board's annual calendar for January: check fincen.gov/boi for changes, alongside the state annual report and registration dates. Congress or FinCEN could change the rule again, and a two-minute check each year is cheaper than finding out from a penalty notice.

Mistakes boards make with BOI

Paying a filing service. For a U.S. association there is nothing left to file, so any fee buys nothing the law requires. Answering a letter with director IDs. An ID image sent to a scammer cannot be recalled. Verify on fincen.gov first, every time. Ignoring the bank because "BOI is gone." The bank's ownership certification is a separate rule and it still applies. Letting BOI crowd out the state filing. The federal report is gone, but the Florida annual report and the Colorado registration still carry real penalties: administrative dissolution in Florida, suspended lien and enforcement rights in Colorado. Put those dates on the calendar before anything else. Trusting old articles. Posts written in 2024 told HOAs to file by a deadline, and many are still online. FinCEN's own site now tells readers to disregard guidance saying U.S. companies must report.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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