Happened to us in our Homeowners assn. There is supposed to be an annual audit but I don't think any of the previous boards ever actually did one - at least not that we can find.

Our treasurer is a single mom of three teens. She's not remorseful in the least. The county is filing charges, as "people" versus... because our HOA is non-profit. It will probably drag on, and maybe the only thing we can do is put a lien on the house, since she has no money.

So you know what to look for here were some of her tactics.

Bought chlorine for the pool so she had a receipt. Then she returned it, and used plain clorox in our pool. And she blamed the poor condition of the water on the massive amounts of rain we had. Seemed believable at the time because we were not suspicious.

Conversion, as in: hire someone to trim trees / landscape around the pool, and then also have them trim your own trees with association money.

We have two levels of membership. She would log people who paid for level A as level B and pocket the difference. Didn't get caught until much later when the member list was published.

My personal opinion, you should always have an account that requires two signatures. This won't prevent all bad behavior, but it does make it at least one level more difficult.

I also prefer to see an annual audit. Churches and other non-profits have to do an annual accounting to their members. Seems like these associations should also do the same.

I am still very angry even all these months later. Let's face it - the board members are all volunteers, and no one likes to think the worst. But ever since this happened, I see 'bad guys' everywhere there's money. From DD's girl scout leaders to the charities we donate to. I am finding it hard to trust anymore.

Hi,
I am on the board of trustees at a condo in New England.

I do not believe that any of the above issues could occur with us, but one never knows!

We do have an account which requires two signatures on the checks. We also have an audit (or review) done every year. We try to keep each other honest (there are six of us) and we also have a management company to help keep us honest (and vice versa)!

It is always good to know what to look out for, however!
E

Get a lawyer & put a lien on her property. The lawyer can advise you on this. That way you will get your money back (after her mortgage is paid) when she sells. The attorney can advise you about prosecuting her & if she wants to NOT be prosecuted, she just might sell & you'll get your money back & she'll be gone.

I'm on the board of our condo association & we finally have gotten a paid outside person to handle the bills, etc. because we had a treasurer who had a death grip on our finances. We've always required 2 signatures on all checks over $300.00 but now ALL checks will have to have 2 signatures.

We had an owner sue us (totally frivolous). The owner's lawyer quit his case because of nonpayment. We now have a judgment against the owner & a lien on his property for back dues, assessments, etc. & are waiting to see if that owner will now have to pay our considerable legal fees.

Your attorney will be able to tell you if she might also have to pay your legal fees because of her theft. Who knows? Your association might wind up owning her unit.