FinCEN wrote Wyoming HOAs out of the CTA, and is deleting what boards filed
FinCEN wrote Wyoming HOAs out of the CTA, and is deleting what boards filed
2026-09-19 · Wyoming · Compliance
What happened. A Wyoming homeowners association has no beneficial ownership reporting obligation at all — not a deferral, not an exemption it has to claim, but exclusion from the definition of “reporting company.” The final rule took effect August 14, 2026, and FinCEN is deleting the information U.S. persons already filed.
The rule
“Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision,” RIN 1506-AB67, 31 CFR part 1010, signed by FinCEN Director Andrea M. Gacki, published at 91 FR 52508 on August 14, 2026. Its own dates section: “This rule is effective August 14, 2026.”1
It adopts as final the interim final rule of March 26, 2025 (90 FR 13688), which redefined “reporting company” at 31 CFR § 1010.380(c)(1) to mean only entities “[f]ormed under the law of a foreign country” and registered to do business in a State or tribal jurisdiction. The words “domestic” and “foreign” came out of the definition, and a domestic-entity exemption went in at § 1010.380(c)(2)(xxiv).
Homeowners associations are named in the preamble, twice
“Some of these commenters also suggested that FinCEN exempt specific types of entities from the reporting requirements, such as homeowners’ associations, regardless of their nationality.” (91 FR 52510–11)
“Other commenters suggested other narrower exemptions, such as for one- or two-person businesses or for homeowners’ associations… Treasury is not persuaded that any of the targeted approaches that commenters have proposed are as effective… 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.” (91 FR 52516–17)
The new text
The final rule added 31 CFR § 1010.380(b)(5):
“Special exemptions. (i) 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.
(ii) 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.”
Paragraph (d)(4) was removed. FinCEN’s own question-and-answer document accompanying the rule puts it plainly: “The final rule permanently removes the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report BOI to FinCEN,” and “It imposes no reporting requirements additional to those that were already in effect, so there is no need for a transition period…”2
The deletion
“FinCEN is implementing a process to delete information about any individuals — company applicants, beneficial owners, or recipients of a FinCEN ID — that FinCEN reasonably believes was provided by a U.S. person (e.g., U.S. passport, U.S. driver’s license).”
Wyoming association boards that filed in the 2024 wave — often at the prompting of a management company or a law firm, and often at a cost — filed something that is being removed from the database.
Why Wyoming specifically
A Wyoming HOA or COA is organised under the Wyoming Nonprofit Corporation Act, W.S. §§ 17-19-101 et seq., by filing articles with the Wyoming Secretary of State. That is exactly the conduct described in the domestic-entity exemption — an entity “[c]reated by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or any similar office under the law of a State or Indian tribe.”
Wyoming is also the state where entity-formation opacity was the live policy worry in the first place; its Business Division processes over 500,000 business filings a year. The reporting requirement now reaches exactly zero Wyoming homeowners associations.
How the law got here
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2022-09-30 | Reporting Rule final, 87 FR 59498, codified at 31 CFR 1010.380, effective 2024-01-01 |
| 2024-12-03 | Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, No. 4:24-cv-00478 (E.D. Tex.) — nationwide preliminary injunction |
| 2025-01-07 | Smith v. U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury, No. 6:24-cv-00336 (E.D. Tex.) — second nationwide stay |
| 2025-01-23 | Supreme Court stays the Texas Top Cop Shop order — McHenry v. Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., 145 S. Ct. 1 (2025) |
| 2025-02-18 | Smith court stays its own order, lifting the last nationwide order |
| 2025-03-02 | Treasury announces suspension of enforcement against domestic entities |
| 2025-03-26 | Interim final rule, 90 FR 13688, effective on publication |
| 2026-08-14 | Final rule published, 91 FR 52508, effective on publication |
The caveat that belongs with it
This is a regulatory exemption, not a repeal of the statute. The Corporate Transparency Act remains on the books at 31 U.S.C. § 5336 unless Congress acts, and a future FinCEN could revisit the definition through the same rulemaking process that produced this one. That is precisely why commenters asked Congress to codify the interim rule.
What is still circulating, and is wrong
Search results continue to surface 2024-vintage advisories written specifically for community associations telling boards they must file by January 1, 2025, identify beneficial owners among directors, and update within 30 days of a board change. None of that describes the law as of August 14, 2026 for a Wyoming domestic entity. The obligation is gone, and the filings already made are being deleted.
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