Articles
Public Service Announcement
Update on the CTA
We know you're tired of hearing about the CTA, but here's an update from Phoebe Neseth on behalf of the Community Associations Institute (CAI). MLCA is a CAI member. We hope the CTA is fully buried and has no chance to return.
Nov 3, 2025 9:03 AM
Phoebe E. Neseth, Esq
Phoebe E. Neseth, Esq
Good morning,
On March 21, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an interim final rule removing the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act. This is consistent with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's March 2, 2025 announcement suspending enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act against U.S. citizens and domestic reporting companies.
Under the interim final rule, FinCEN revises the definition of "reporting company" in its implementing regulations to mean only those entities that are formed under the law of a foreign country and that have registered to do business in any U.S. State or Tribal jurisdiction by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or similar office (formerly known as "foreign reporting companies"). FinCEN also exempts entities previously known as "domestic reporting companies" from BOI reporting requirements.
Thus, through this interim final rule, all entities created in the United States—including those previously known as "domestic reporting companies"—and their beneficial owners will be exempt from the requirement to report BOI to FinCEN.
FinCEN is accepting comments on this interim final rule and intends to finalize the rule this year. CAI will participate in the public comment period on behalf of the 369,000 community associations in the United States.
This interim final rule is interpreted to mean the Corporate Transparency Act and its reporting requirements are no longer in effect for U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies, including all applicable community associations.
Additional information on the Corporate Transparency Act can be found here: "https://www.caionline.org/advocacy/advocacy-priorities-overview/corporate-transparency-act/
Phoebe Neseth
Community Associations Institute
Vice President, Government Relations, Public Affairs & Legal
Falls Church VA
pneseth@caionline.org
Community Associations Institute
Vice President, Government Relations, Public Affairs & Legal
Falls Church VA
pneseth@caionline.org
November, 2025
Annual Meeting / Insurance Seminar
MLCA's 2026 Annual Meeting was held on October 14, 2025 in conjunction with a seminar on "Basics of Insurance including Directors & Officers Liability" with a focus on homeowner associations. The presentation was by Dawn Becker, Practice Leader for Community Associations of the Acrisure insurance brokerage firm, together with Dawn Sall of the Kevin Davis insurance company.
Here are the materials from the meeting:
October, 2025
Public Service Announcement
Golf Carts—New State Law
We recently received an announcement from Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw that pertains to the entire state. It's about a new South Carolina law regarding the operation of golf carts on streets or highways. Full details of the announcement can be found by clicking this link.
July, 2025
Public Service Announcement
Complaints Against HOAs/POAs
In 2018, South Carolina passed the Homeowners Association Act. We've covered the impact of this legislation several times at MLCA workshops. One of the features of the act was the creation of a process whereby homeowners could lodge complaints about their POA/HOA with the SC Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA). DCA received a total of 617 complaints in 2024 but rejected 183 for various reasons leaving a total of 434 verified complaints. A quick review of the complaints found eight in Anderson County, three in Pickens Coounty and two in Oconee County. Full details of the report can be found by clicking this link: consumer.sc.gov/HOA-reports.
February, 2025
Mandatory Board Education – Good News
The MLCA Board opposes state or federally mandated HOA/POA board member education requirements. Any association wanting to require education or training for its own board members can already do that by adopting its own regulations, but requiring all owner associations to do the same doesn't sit well with us. Nonetheless, when we learned that CAI (Community Associations Institute) was close to recommending federally mandated board member education requirements, we decided to poll our members to determine your opinions on the issue. Wow! You responded with vigor. Your statements were so impactful that we decided to use them, all of them, in an email from one of our board members to CAI in which MLCA opposed efforts to mandate universal rules on the subject.
Click here for his message, and yours, to CAI.
We have good news! Instead of recommending mandatory requirements affecting all owner associations across America, CAI has announced it will leave it up to each state to decide the matter. Guess why CAI changed its recommendation! It was you! MLCA members' voices turned the issue 180 degrees. According to the Chairman of CAI's Government & Public Affairs Committee, it was your comments that changed everything. It is now up to each state to decide if it wants mandatory board education requirements. We don’t think South Carolina will even consider such a move. After all, it was your response to CAI that halted the drive for a national law. However, if South Carolina surprises us by going down that road, we will oppose it.
August, 2024
Your POA/HOA Not An MLCA Member Yet?
If your owner's association is not yet a member of MLCA, it should be! Click this link for our latest membership brochure for additional details regarding our recent activities and programs as well as a list of our current membership. As we like to say, "NONE of us is as smart as ALL of us!" Together, we can make a difference and improve the effectiveness of all of our owner organizations. Join us!
MLCA Works for You
To ensure that MLCA continues to focus on the right issues, and devotes our energy and resources to areas where you will gain the greatest benefit, we need on-going input of our members. We also have room on our board to add like-minded, pro-active neighbors who, like us, are interested in making the upstate's communities the most effective they can be. If you're a current or former board member of your owners association and would like to work more closely with us, we encourage you to reach out to us at
for more information about joining our board.
Of Interest
Surveys have been conducted to poll area communities asking HOAs questions on wide-ranging topics that could help you or your community tackle some difficult or complex issues. Click the SURVEYS Navigation Link from any page. If your community has an issue or problem with which it could use advice or perspectives from other associations that might have "been there, done that," send some questions to MLCA at
We will take a survey for you.
Recent Survey Results
Click here for full list
Survey: Legal Assistance 2025
The MLCA Board decided to update a survey taken in 2018. Click here for results.
Survey: Vetting Home Builders
Chickasaw Point POA Board requested this survey to collect information about ideas and procedures used by other local owners associations to screen home builders. Click here for results.
Query: Assessment Increases
South Port Village POA requested a query on annual assessment increases. Click here for results.
Survey: Dues Collection Methods
Stonehaven Association requested a survey on methods of dues collection. The survey covers various means of collecting dues. Click here for results.
Survey: Assessment Coverage
We received 34 responses to this survey requested by Stoneledge. The current survey is similar to one taken in 2012 on assessments. Click here for results.
