It's hard to believe another another holiday season has passed! If you've finally taken down your holiday decorations and aren't sure what to do with all those non-working lights, we have an environmentally-friendly solution for you.

Reduce Waste Chicago is collecting strings of non-working holiday lights through January 31st at various locations in the city. Make a New Year's resolution to keep lights out of the garbage and find a recycling location near you instead! For more information and locations, click here.

The 2025 Shared Cost Sidewalk Program will open to new applicants on Monday, January 13 from 6 am to 10 pm. This is a popular voluntary program in which property owners share the cost of sidewalk repair with the city. Costs are well below what a private contractor would charge.

Applications will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis based on availability of funds. Find out more about the program here.

As we reflect on the past year and our experiences working with small associations throughout Chicagoland, we’d like to suggest a few New Year’s Resolutions that will help your association to function more effectively in 2025.

Read and follow your governing documents
Your Declaration and Bylaws describe your association’s physical structure, define responsibility for each portion, dictate expected behavior and specify how the management and administration of the property is to be handled. Always turn to the governing documents for answers first when there is a conflict or question about how your association operates.

Make financial decisions based on data
Your association cannot thrive without adequate financial review and planning. Know where every penny is coming from and where it is going and use current and historical financial activity to make responsible, informed decisions about the property. Financial data allows you to create a realistic budget, make decisions about spending on planned and unplanned expenses, avoid emergencies and plan for the long-term physical health of your association.

Do not ignore delinquencies
The longer a delinquency is left unaddressed, the greater the danger that it will not be fully recovered. It is much easier for an owner to get caught up on a small delinquency than a large one. Communicate with delinquent owners as soon as they fall behind, attempt to work out a plan to get caught up, and call in collection help from an attorney if the problem persists.

Get involved
A community association’s operation depends entirely on its members to function. If you value your investment and want your voice to be heard, volunteer to serve on your board. If you are not willing to step up and donate your time to maintain your association, respect and support those who do – they are volunteering their own time for your benefit. Attend board meetings, communicate appropriately through the proper channels and respect the board’s personal time.

Happy New Year from Haus Financial Services and the Chicago Condo Resource! We wish you much success in 2025!

It's on, it's off, it's on, it's off again! The latest in the Corporate Transparency Act saga has the deadline suspended again pending continued legal action.

The US Department of the Treasury's FinCEN division released a statement stating that the filings are currently voluntary.

Haus Financial Services LLC continues to file reports on behalf of our clients and believes this is still the best course of action to avoid potentially heavy fines. We encourage community associations to remain vigilant regarding updates on the requirement if you have not yet filed your report or do not plan to do so until there is a final determination on the matter. 

In light of a December 23, 2024, federal Court of Appeals decision, reporting companies, except as indicated below, are once again required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN. However, because the Department of the Treasury recognizes that reporting companies may need additional time to comply given the period when the preliminary injunction had been in effect, we have extended the reporting deadline as follows:

• Reporting companies that were created or registered prior to January 1, 2024 have until January 13, 2025 to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN. (These companies would otherwise have been required to report by January 1, 2025.)
• Reporting companies created or registered in the United States on or after September 4, 2024 that had a filing deadline between December 3, 2024 and December 23, 2024 have until January 13, 2025 to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.
• Reporting companies created or registered in the United States on or after December 3, 2024 and on or before December 23, 2024 have an additional 21 days from their original filing deadline to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.
• Reporting companies that qualify for disaster relief may have extended deadlines that fall beyond January 13, 2025. These companies should abide by whichever deadline falls later.
• Reporting companies that are created or registered in the United States on or after January 1, 2025 have 30 days to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN after receiving actual or public notice that their creation or registration is effective.

All community associations that existed prior to 1/1/24 should file now to ensure compliance with the current 1/13/25 extended deadline.