I’m writing this letter as a public service to advise all condo Home Owner Association (HOA) boards of a legal requirement they must fulfill by Dec. 31 and a related fraud they may encounter.

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is a federal law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, that requires many business entities to file reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The goal of the CTA is to help prevent and combat financial crimes, such as money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, and tax fraud, by providing law enforcement with information about business owners and those who control them. FinCEN is an agency under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Treasury.

HOAs are required to comply with CTA and there are stiff fines and potential jail time for non-compliance. All HOA board members and any owner in the building who owns at least 25% of the building are required to provide their name, address, phone, birthdate and a copy of an ID (driver’s license, state ID, or current passport) to FinCEN.

I and the other members of my board have been receiving almost daily emails, which ask us to click on a link and provide our personal information for CTA reporting. They appear to be from a legitimate compliance and security company located in Hillside. I checked with that company and the emails did not come from them. This is a case where bad actors are taking advantage of a legitimate governmental mandate in order to phish for personal data.

There are several ways to satisfy the CTA’s requirements. Your board members may file for themselves on FinCEN’s secure website, they may fill out a paper form, or your management company may handle this requirement for you (for a fee of course). You can also have your HOA’s legal firm handle this for you.

However you decide to do this, please be safe. Never click on an email link that you do not know to be legitimate.

Louise Mezzatesta
River Forest, Illinois