Tag Archives: corruption

This HOA Embezzlement Plea Bargain Stinks!

Embezzling from Homeowners Associations in America is an epidemic. But when a federal prosecutor accepts a tiny plea bargain agreement from a chronic embezzler it stinks to high heavens.

Birmingham, Alabama… Realty company owner Jill Rouse Boothby admits to stealing more than 375,000 dollars from eleven condo associations she managed. She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and faithfully promises she’ll pay back the hundreds of thousands of bucks she stole. Apparently, there’s not going to be any jail time.

The Condo Game

I did a post on this sometime back, but a friend last night urged me to watch this documentary again and then blog about it. So here goes:

The Condo Game is a fabulous documentary about the condo market in Toronto and how unscrupulous developers are ‘scrupling’ the rest of us with their crookedness and irresponsible building practices. And Canadians are just as dumb as Americans as they purchase in these high-rise hellholes. HOAs on steroids and tens of thousands of people are beginning to see how badly they’ve been ripped off.

The Shadowmoss HOA Disaster Grows

guest blog by Deborah Goonan  (Independent American Communities)

How many times have we heard homeowners, Community Association Managers and attorneys lament about apathy in HOAs? A quick Google search on “HOA Apathy” results in dozens of articles on the subject. Few attend annual meetings, so there’s never a quorum. No one wants to serve on the Association’s board. Does anyone actually read emails, newsletters, or the website?

HOA Embezzling Travesty

It’s fantastic news when an HOA board member is convicted of embezzling from all her neighbors. It’s horrible when the judge decides that probation is adequate punishment. Homeowners Associations are mini-governments that should theoretically be governed by the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, board members should be treated and considered as politicians. And an embezzling board member should be treated as a corrupt politician.

There’s a pretty good handful of politicians who’ve been sent to prison for corruption. Think ABSCAM if anybody remembers that one.

Airbnb HOA Nightmare

Millions of people around the world have opened their homes to Airbnb, the service that for a small price can find homeowners willing to share their homes for a brief time to travelers. It sounds like a wonderful idea. When a close relative of mine died in Oregon and I couldn’t find a nearby motel I turned to Airbnb for what changed from a few days to a month-long ordeal. In a neighborhood of hundreds of homes I added just one extra car to the daily traffic.