Your North Dakota association has nothing to file with FinCEN, permanently
Your North Dakota association has nothing to file with FinCEN, permanently
2026-09-15 · North Dakota · Compliance
Two years of anxiety about beneficial ownership reporting is over for North Dakota associations. A domestically formed homeowners association has no reporting obligation, and since August 14, 2026 that is a final rule rather than an interim one.1
How it got here
On March 26, 2025 FinCEN issued an interim final rule, 90 FR 13688, effective immediately:
“FinCEN is adopting this interim final rule to narrow the existing beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) to require only entities previously defined as 'foreign reporting companies' to report BOI. Under this interim final rule, entities previously defined as 'domestic reporting companies' are exempted from the reporting requirements and do not have to report BOI to FinCEN, or update or correct BOI previously reported to FinCEN.”
The regulation now defines a reporting company as an entity “Formed under the law of a foreign country” and registered to do business in a State or tribal jurisdiction, with an express exemption at 31 CFR 1010.380(c)(2)(xxiv) for a “Domestic entity” — one “Created by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or any similar office under the law of a State or Indian tribe.”
A North Dakota association incorporated under chapter 10-33 by filing articles with the Secretary of State is a domestic entity. It is exempt.
FinCEN named associations
The final rule, 91 FR 52508, published August 14, 2026, addresses the point directly:
“Other commenters suggested other narrower exemptions, such as for one- or two-person businesses or for homeowners' associations. … The final rule therefore adopts the blanket exemption approach of the IFR. This approach obviates any need to create additional exemptions applicable to subcategories of U.S. entities, such as homeowners' associations.”
The date every board that already filed should know
Many associations filed a beneficial ownership report in 2024 or early 2025, uploading directors' driving licences or passports. FinCEN intends to delete that material, and it has said exactly how — and when it stops:
“FinCEN anticipates working with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and implementing a process to delete information about any individuals—company applicants, beneficial owners, or recipients of a FinCEN ID—in the BO IT System who reported an identifying document that FinCEN reasonably believes was provided by a U.S. person (e.g., U.S. passport, U.S. driver's license). At this time, FinCEN does not anticipate requiring or requesting that U.S. companies or U.S. persons contact FinCEN requesting that their BOI be removed. Additionally, FinCEN does not intend to provide any acknowledgement or confirmation of the deletion of a U.S. company or U.S. person's BOI. FinCEN will provide notice to the public on its website when it has completed the deletion process. To accomplish this deletion efficiently, FinCEN anticipates undertaking the project in one sweep of the database, not as a regular, periodic sweep. … If BOI relating to a U.S. company or a U.S. person is included—inadvertently or intentionally—in a filing made after February 10, 2027, FinCEN does not anticipate deleting that information.”
Four practical points in that passage. The deletion happens in one sweep, not continuously. You do not need to ask. You will get no confirmation. And anything filed after February 10, 2027 will not be deleted — so nobody should file anything.
The final rule also exempts U.S. persons from providing information about themselves and from updating anything already given in connection with a FinCEN identifier:
“Reporting companies are exempt from any requirement under 31 U.S.C. 5336 and this section to report the beneficial ownership information of any United States persons who are beneficial owners or company applicants. United States persons are exempt from any requirement under 31 U.S.C. 5336 and this section to provide beneficial ownership information with respect to any reporting company for which they are beneficial owners or company applicants.”
Where a North Dakota board stands
Stop paying anyone to prepare or monitor filings. Some associations put a compliance service on a standing retainer in 2024. There is nothing left for it to do. That is a line to remove from the budget at the next review. Our North Dakota budget approval page covers the meeting.
Do not file anything, and certainly not after February 10, 2027. A well-meant “corrective” filing would put directors' identity documents into a database that FinCEN has said it will not clean again.
Tell the directors who handed over documents what happens. They will not get a confirmation. FinCEN will post a public notice when the sweep is done. That is the whole of the process.
Keep the state filing. This changes nothing about North Dakota's own requirements. The nonprofit annual report under N.D.C.C. § 10-33-139 is still due before February 2 every year, still costs ten dollars, and a year's default still means the corporation “ceases to exist and is considered involuntarily dissolved by operation of law.” That is the filing that matters now.
One caveat: stable is not the same as statutory
The exemption sits in a regulation, not in the Corporate Transparency Act itself. Legislation to repeal the Act outright — H.R. 425 and S. 100, the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, both introduced January 15, 2025 — would codify the position in statute. The House bill was ordered reported by the Financial Services Committee on April 21, 2026 by 26 to 25, reported as amended on June 18, 2026, and placed on the Union Calendar. The Senate bill was referred to Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and has not moved.
Neither has been enacted. No public law exists. The operative instrument is the regulation, and it is in force.
What to watch next
Watch fincen.gov for the public notice that the deletion sweep is complete, which is the only confirmation any association will receive. Watch also whether H.R. 425 reaches a floor vote — that would move the exemption from a rule a future administration could revisit into a statute it could not.
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