If you’re a 78 year old Realtor and you embezzle a hundred thousand bucks from your HOA neighbors should you be given probation? The answer in Missouri is…yup. The judge apparently had some sympathy for an HOA treasurer who admitted she stole the money to feed her gambling habit. But she won’t have to spend a minute in jail.
While this person is ordered not to serve as treasurer for any other organizations the message to embezzlers nation-wide is horrible. Embezzling by HOA board members and management companies is absolutely out of control all over the country. To stop the crime you have to take as many embezzlers as possible and make an example of them. Put them in jail. Let them rot. Make sure all HOA board officers know they’ll get no sympathy.
This Kansas City, Missouri embezzler didn’t just steal money. She lowered property values for an entire neighborhood.
Being caught embezzling from your neighbors can certainly be very embarrassing. Usually, though the embezzler is arrogant enough to not care if he or she is exposed as a thief. But things turned out very differently for a school board president and HOA treasurer.
I’ll spare you the details but just leave the link below:
The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against a Florida Homeowners Association. The issue is whether it’s legal for an HOA to discriminate against families with children. The Federal Government claims in its lawsuit that the Townhomes of Kings Lake HOA have a pattern of violating the Fair Housing Act by harassing and taking action against families with children.
In one such case, the HOA threatened to evict a couple and their six children because the number of children exceeded HOA covenants. The Justice Department claims by unduly limiting the number of children, the HOA was in violation of federal law.
A statement by Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez says, “The Fair Housing Act ensures that families with children have an equal right to use and enjoy housing of their choice. The Justice Department will continue its vigorous enforcement of fair housing laws that protect the rights of families with children.”
The statement by this federal official is nothing more than astonishing. There are 302,000 Homeowners Associations in the country. Most of them regularly violate the Fair Housing Act in one way or another. Anyone who signs an agreement to abide by HOA regulations essentially signs away all his or her Constitutional rights. But the thought of this federal agency filing 302,000 more lawsuits is beyond comprehension.
