Tag Archives: HOA Embezzlement

HOAs Claim Embezzling is Rare (LMAO!)

      7 Comments on HOAs Claim Embezzling is Rare (LMAO!)

Really! Ask any promoter of the HOA system about the national epidemic of board members and property managers embezzling from the neighborhood budget, and they’ll swear that it’s rare…so rare, the average homeowner needn’t worry about such a thing.

It’s true that prosecution of HOA embezzlers is rare. Prosecutors know it’s expensive to charge HOA embezzlers. They know that embezzlers get incredibly light sentences from judges. Steal a million bucks and get 18 months in prison? Hey, such a deal! So, prosecutors’ attitudes toward victims is, “Well, if you don’t like it, why don’t you just move?” Where’ve we heard that before?

But with every embezzlement story, property values in HOAs across the country go down. Maybe just a little bit, but how can property values go up when there are so many HOA embezzling and racketeering stories?
Here’s another:

(link to money-laundering in Jersey City)

Folks, if you think this country isn’t in bad, bad trouble, you’ve got your head someplace it really doesn’t belong.

 

Being an HOA Board Member Could Get Dicey!

      1 Comment on Being an HOA Board Member Could Get Dicey!

There’s a case awaiting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that could increase the risk for individual HOA board members and property managers. It involves passive and overt discrimination against certain protected classes. Overt discrimination needs no explanation. But passive or indirect discrimination, which often happens when no one intentionally means to discriminate, can lead to huge lawsuits and massive judgments against individual board members and homeowners. More and more protected classes have been filing lawsuits based on easier-to-prove passive discrimination.

If the Supreme Court declines to narrow the scope of federal discrimination laws then Katy bar the doors. Passive discrimination happens all the time in Homeowners Associations and it can only encourage more plaintiffs to make such claims. Insurance companies usually won’t pay for legal costs or judgments under federal or state discrimination laws.

When they begin to realize their personal liability HOA board members all over the country might start fleeing like rats from the Titanic. And many neighborhoods may decide to dissolve their HOAs forever.

The article linked below explains it far more intelligently than I did.

(pending Supreme Court decision)

(link to a prime example of the kinds of lawsuits that could start flying)

 

Another On-duty Serviceman gets the HOA Shaft!

      2 Comments on Another On-duty Serviceman gets the HOA Shaft!

Until HOAs get massive financial fines for screwing over on-duty service members, this kind of crime will never stop. The federal law is incredibly clear…you can’t foreclose on a member of the U.S. Armed Services if he is on active duty and cannot appear in court.

Yet the Monte Viejo Community Association in San Antonio, Texas felt they were above the law. In 2011, they simply reached out and snatched the home of U.S. Navy Petty Officer Richard Miller. He was stationed in Japan at the time. In a case eerily similar to the confiscation of another Texas serviceman’s home, Miller’s wife kept all of his mail for him to read when he was home for the holidays. Miller says he never got any mail from his HOA, and thus didn’t know his dues were not being paid.

Miller’s dues were only 200 bucks a year. The HOA jacked that up to more than $15,000 and then liened and foreclosed on Miller’s home.

The good news is that Miller has a pro-bono attorney who’s fighting for his rights. There’s a hint that the Monte Viego board knows how badly they messed up because they’re finally communicating with Miller.

(link to Stars and Stripes article on Miller’s fight)

 

Welcome to Paradise…for Criminals!

      6 Comments on Welcome to Paradise…for Criminals!
guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Would you be comfortable living in a condo where the Manager, arrested for theft and forgery, remains employed and in charge of your condo association’s $1.2 million budget? What would you think if you discovered your Association’s payroll includes at least two other unlicensed professional staff members that have been convicted of crimes, including stealing $400,000 from another condominium association?

Would you be spooked if you returned home one day to discover your new stainless steel kitchen appliances have mysteriously disappeared, and, in their place, someone installed old beat-up appliances?

Residents at Kennedy House condominium in North Bay Village (FL) are dealing with this nightmare. They tell Channel 10’s Bob Norman that even the local police chief has been unhelpful. North Bay Village Manager has recently fired that police chief and now promises to see to it that there is a full investigation of reported crimes.

Kennedy House is a renovated 1950s-era building in North Bay Village, a man-made island in the Biscayne Bay near Miami, featuring 1 and 2 bedroom units with sweeping water views. It’s the kind of Paradise northerners dream about, especially after a brutal winter like this season.

A search of recent listings reveals that Kennedy house condos are priced “affordably” under $250,000. Unit owners currently pay $400-$600 per month in Association fees.

Ouch. And just how much of that was squandered or stolen? That is yet to be fully investigated.

It seems both Florida and Nevada definitely rise to the top of the list for corruption in HOA Land. Folks, these reports are published daily. It’s getting to the point where it’s hard to choose which one(s) to blog about.

(link to TV news story uncovering corruption)

(accused felons: they’re back on the job!)

 

Damn the American Flag!

      1 Comment on Damn the American Flag!

Yes, that’s what many Homeowners Association boards in America are saying. And they’re suing to get rid of any trace of the Red, White and Blue.

You really have to watch this four minute speech by Texas Congressman Ted Poe!