Another Insignificant HOA Embezzlement?

guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Another isolated incident?

It seems like there are several reports of HOA theft and embezzlement each week. Sometimes it’s a rogue Board member writing checks to herself or buying himself a new car. But sometimes it’s the Community Association Manager skimming funds, as in this case in Georgia. Atlanta, Dunwoody, and Chamblee police departments are currently investigating up to twelve HOAs where Michael Sisson was hired to manage the communities’ operations and finances.

Yes, up to one dozen.

So far, Dunwoody police have filed charges against Sisson involving $180,000 in missing funds from two separate HOAs.  Hopefully, these HOAs had adequate insurance policies and were paid in full. No doubt they were relying on Sisson to pay the bills.

Anyone care to guess how much this investigation is going to cost taxpayers, including the ones who are fortunate enough not to live in one of these HOAs?

(link to news report about GA HOA embezzlements)

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About

Ward Lucas is a longtime investigative journalist and television news anchor. He has won more than 70 national and regional awards for Excellence in Journalism, Creative Writing and community involvement. His new book, "Neighbors At War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association," is now available for purchase. In it, he discusses the American homeowners association movement, from its racist origins, to its transformation into a lucrative money machine for the nation's legal industry. From scams to outright violence to foreclosures and neighborhood collapses across the country, the reader will find this book enormously compelling and a necessary read for every homeowner. Knowledge is self-defense. No homeowner contemplating life in an HOA should neglect reading this book. No HOA board officer should overlook this examination of the pitfalls in HOA management. And no lawyer representing either side in an HOA dispute should gloss over what homeowners are saying or believing about the lawsuit industry.

1 thought on “Another Insignificant HOA Embezzlement?

  1. Cynthia

    Thank you, Deborah Goonan for writing on the on going HOA financial abuses and thefts, that are anything but, “isolated incidents.”
    They are not just stealing money, though, they are, and have been stealing homes too! Many times form the most vulnerable and any homeowner who stumbles over their criminality, or asks a question about the finances, or an illegitimate, illegal, non-voted, no legal authority extortion demand for money by an abusive, and I believe criminal HOA board. The range of HOA homeowner abuses and crimes against innocent homeowners is, and has been, an epidemic in America. I don’t know what it is going to take for our elected officials and the general public to wake up! Maybe, when it is their home, their finances, their safety, security, health and reputations at stake. These egregious and unconscionable crimes should have been stopped long ago, but have not. Wake up America!

    Reply

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