Category Archives: Fraud

Whew! Who Did This Work?

      No Comments on Whew! Who Did This Work?

Sometimes a blogger should just shut up and pay compliments to the work of others.

My readers have learned over the months that I’m massively angry about how easy it is to embezzle money from Homeowners Associations. And because it’s easy, it happens everywhere. In fact, my upcoming book, “Neighbors at War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowner Association”  provides a list of hundreds of HOAs where board members have stolen millions and millions of dollars from their neighbors.  And yes. I do publish names and kick butt.  In fact, the new definition of a Homeowner Association Board may be “five arrogant people running wildly through your retirement savings!”

Yes, that’s hyperbole, but it doesn’t miss the mark by much.

OK, I promised to keep my mouth shut and give somebody else a compliment. So, here it is: Whoever decided to assemble the following list of HOA embezzlements and publish them on the web should be nominated as my “hero of the month.”  Admittedly, I have to grit my teeth and acknowledge that the author of the list may be aligned with the Community Associations Institute, an organization which has raised lots of suspicions about their own honesty and intent. Am I sleeping with the Devil? I hope not.  But here’s their embezzling list. Read it and weep.

http://www.communityassociations.net/xmlarticles/fraud_embezzlement.html

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

How D’ya Like Your HOA Re-sale Value Now, Bunky?

      No Comments on How D’ya Like Your HOA Re-sale Value Now, Bunky?

Washington State is such a pretty place to live. They call it “The Evergreen State.”

And a boat-load of Homeowners Associations were all going to help protect and preserve property values for all those new owners. Well, it’s not working out so well for folks in the Hazel Dell Townhomes, part of the Timbers at Town Center HOA in Vancouver. About six years ago, crowds of real estate agents dragged their clients in to buy some of those ritzy new townhomes. Now, HOA dues are going unpaid, a lot of personal wealth has been shredded, common areas are uncommonly unkempt. At this point, a townhouse owner probably couldn’t unload his property in a bad poker game.

It’s an old, sad story. The developer went broke in 2006, leaving a bunch of homes unsold. He transferred his bankrupt company along with the CC&Rs to the neighborhood. One of those rules is that it takes a quorum of 50% of the community to elect a board, to hold a meeting or even to petition the courts for help.

Now the homeowners are whining to the State Legislature that it’s “just not fair.” Maybe the Legislature will help out, and maybe not. The problem isn’t the developer. The problem is that investing in covenant-controlled housing is a big fat “P.S.I.” (pretty stupid investment). It’s just another case of “the big lie” being told over and over again by every real estate agent in Kingdom Come.

They’ll call me a fibber for saying it, but the real truth is that, “No, the HOA does NOT protect your property values.

In the meantime, many homeowners in The Evergreen State could reasonably call it “The Ever-Broke State.”

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

The Stench Continues Rising Over Vegas!

      No Comments on The Stench Continues Rising Over Vegas!

Hoo boy, just when you thought the HOA news out of Las Vegas couldn’t get any smellier, any more corrupt, any more bizarre… it does.

The Paradise Spa Home Owners Association has certainly had its problems during the economic implosion. Fires. Construction defect lawsuits. Insurance money that just never appeared. The neighborhood kept deteriorating and needed repairs just didn’t get done.

Your home is supposed to you be your best investment. Isn’t that what we were always told?  But buying a home in Paradise Spa was a bad investment for a lot of folks.

Now comes word that the former treasurer of the HOA has been indicted for theft and embezzlement.

Massoud Yashouafar!

Oh, his lawyers will say he was innocent, of course.  It’s only an allegation. Innocent until proven guilty, and all that. OK, OK.

But more than a million bucks! How in hell can some people look themselves in the mirror each morning?

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Legacy Park Community Association – An HOA Thief In Their Midst

      No Comments on Legacy Park Community Association – An HOA Thief In Their Midst

We’ve frequently talked in this blog about thieves who steal from their Homeowners Associations.  There’s another one. There’s always another one.

Douglas Gilpatrick Tulper, a treasurer for the Legacy Park Men’s Club took almost 18,000 dollars from his organization which is part of the Legacy Park Community Association in Kennesaw, Georgia. He says he needed it to pay bills.

His attorney may use his age as an excuse. He’s 78. But the problem isn’t age, or senility, or dementia. The problem is that HOA officers can do whatever the heck they want to with other people’s money. There is no oversight. There are no rules. And where there is no oversight, greed has no chains. It’s extremely rare when somebody actually gets caught.

America has 300,000 Homeowner Associations, little fiefdoms where the U.S. Constitution is not observed, respected or acknowledged.

Embezzlement arrests are rare in our gated communities. Yet every one seems to have some little “bit of history” with HOA thieves.

Isn’t something wrong here?

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Do You Smell Something Rotting in the Air of Las Vegas?

      No Comments on Do You Smell Something Rotting in the Air of Las Vegas?

With several dozen Las Vegas Homeowner Associations mired in the muck of a federal corruption investigation, members of one association have learned they may be targeted by huge IRS assessments and fines.

Sun City Summerlin Community Association is not one of the Nevada HOAs where investigators have found corrupt cops and judges and lawyers. But this HOA’s accounting practices are attracting lots of federal attention.

The HOA operates several commercial golf courses and restaurants. So in addition to HOA dues, there’s a chunk of money coming into the coffers of the HOA from outside sources. Theoretically, taxes should be paid on that income. But Sun City Summerlin Association has been deferring millions of dollars on its annual tax forms. Homeowners don’t seem to be aware that their snowbird homes may end up as tax magnets instead of tax shelters.

Sun City Summerlin is a not-for-profit organization, so theoretically homeowners should have been given some rather large refunds. Instead, each homeowner may be given some rather large surprise tax assessments.

Other Homeowners Associations across the country area are closely watching what happens in Las Vegas. Elderly homeowners may suddenly discover a downside to investing their life savings in a retirement home in the Sun Belt.

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association