Illegal reimbursements?

Started by ChristineA • 5 replies • 1457 views

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ChristineA (Florida)
Posts: 1

Posted:

I am the new president of our homeowners association. the previous president was acting as president, treasurer, and at the last few months of his tenure as Secretary and Vp. I received his account ledgers, after some tooth pulling, and noticed that he has "reimbursed" himself for mileage to go to our PO Box 3 times a week, 17 miles round trip, when in fact it is 10 miles round trip, and he has reimbursed himself several thousands of dollars for cell phone bills. he has not provded a mileage log or receipts/copies of phone bills to substantiate these reimbursements. The new Board has requested both and he has failed to respond. in addition, the HOA is paying for a storage unit, in which the ex-pres has stored his personal belongings and failed to turn over the key. What is our recourse?

DanaB1 (Connecticut)
Posts: 319

Posted:

A lawyer, immediately.

BradP (Kansas)
Posts: 2,640

Posted:

Christine:

I would converse with your HOA attorney. You have several things you can do from filing criminal charges to suing for the lost money, etc. The current board should demand cell phone bills, mileage logs, etc. from him and let him know you are serious about pursuing charges. This should be a great lesson to your whole neighborhood to step up and get involved, this is what happens when things are left unchecked.

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

If he has nothing to hide he would gladly give over the information. Perhaps he took a different route to the post office? An attorney's letter might be all you need to shake loose copies of his phone bills with a reminder that several thousand dollars is a lot of phone bills that needs to be substantiated. How do you know he has personal stuff stored in the association's storage space? Tell him you are going to talk with the manager to request he open your space to retrieve your property. Tell him, he can meet you there to get his property or make other arrangements with the manager. If he doesn't show up, close that space and get another one to put your property in, transferring any paid rent to it, and let the manager deal with him over his stuff. If all the attorney has to do is write a letter or two, it shouldn't be that expensive.
By being proactive, he might see you are serious about all of this and not going to just let it slide. But be sure of your facts before bringing in the police.
Harold

GeraldT1 (<Not Specified>)
Posts: 519

Posted:

ChristineA,

I don't know what your by-laws specify, but mine prevent President from holding any other office other than President. Same goes for VP. Wonder where the other Board members were in allowing the Pres to get away with such obvious abuses of power.

Best of success!!
GeraldT1
NNJ

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

It amazes me that the first choice for many is to talk to an attorney. I realize this may sometimes be necessary but it would not be my first choice. But in this case, I suggest the Board contact the President and request a Hearing to see the records and allow them to explain the charges. Then try to work out a compromise if there are undocumented or unreasonable charges. Going to an attorney will usually cost the association a lot of extra expenses based on our experiences.

If the President does not attend the Hearing to defend the charged violations then, if your controlling documents allow it, fine them. Advise them they have 30 days to pay or else the matter will be turned over to an attorney and they will be charged for all legal expenses involved if the association prevails at court.

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