I "borrowed" money from the HOA

Not my real name, of course.

I have been the treasurer for a self managed Association for almost 10 years. I fell on some hard times while being treated for breast cancer and over the course of a couple of years I "borrowed" around $3,000. There is no excuse, I violated trust, and I am monumentally sorry, and I have since repaid the debt. I am ready to resign the position, and I am looking for advice as to whether I should confess to the board (and provide a detailed accounting of the incidents) or if I should just turn over the books (with the detailed accounting of the incidents) and wait and see if the new treasurer (yet to be determined) finds it.

I realize what I did was awful and I feel terrible so I would appreciate it if negative comments could be kept to a minimum, but I also realize that I deserve it.

Thanks

Keep it to yourself. You still have to live with these people. You want them to call you a thief all the time?

Same advice if you cheat on a spouse... A person admits it to relieve their guilt. The other person is innoncent. Why hurt them, Just do not do it.

You basically stole money from the HOA, and that is a crime. You know it, and everyone else here knows it.

So coming here asking for "advice" is just as bad as your stealing to begin with.

And I am shocked that advice is being given to let it alone.

Shame shame on the advice given here on keeping it to yourself. It's no wonder HOA boards are given such grief. Here is one who is stealing and you think it's best to not tell the board?

It will only take the next treasurer minimum time to look over your tenure and see what was done.

Call the police and turn yourself in and tell your board, you did the crime and you have to pay the price of everyone calling you a thief. You became one. End of story.

This country is in the toilet because of these actions, one doing the the crime and the other with people justifying their actions and others agreeing.

Absolutely agree but this does not go far enough.

The heinous crime reported here occurred in large part because the rest of the board allowed it to happen. They were grossly negligent in their supervision of the OP.

The members of the association were equally culpable as they asserted no supervision over the BOD.

The local police and prosecutor is also culpable as they failed to detect this crime. What do we pay taxes for, anyway? If they were on their toes they would have uncovered this crime on their own.

Therefore, they should all be lined up and shot by a firing squad. Kids, too, since they have already learned from their parents to be criminally negligent. As a lesson to all others, their former homes should be bulldozed and the earth salted to prevent anything from ever growing there again. Imagine someone driving past there 200 years from now and explaining to their children that this barren tract of land is the result of criminal activity.

Should it be about commensurate punishment or deterrence ? The US Justice Dept is seeking only 20 years in prison for the non-co-operative co-mastermind of the huge Las Vegas HOA-hijacking scandal. Yesterday's photo suggests he may have eaten the + $ 20 Millions which he has not repaid.

(“ Prosecutors ask 20 years for mastermind of Las Vegas HOA fraud” http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/crime-courts/prosecutors-ask-20-years-mastermind-las-vegas-hoa-fraud )

Come, let us not mince words about it: the money was not borrowed, it was stolen. You stole the money. It is inappropriate to confuse or otherwise diminish the term by encasing the word "borrow" in quotation marks, which of itself is an attempt to skirt the issue or to lighten the implications thereof. There are two halves to the act of borrowing: (1) the lending, and (2) the borrowing. The lender is as much a willing party in such a transaction as the one who borrows. In this case, there was no lender.

Directors and officers of corporations are held to higher standards of ethics and behavior, and are expected to demonstrate by their exemplary behavior and commitment how the other members of the corporation should conduct their affairs. By stealing money from the association, you betrayed the trust that was placed in you by those who elected you to a position of leadership. Moreover, for some extended period of time you would have provided false information to the association in order to mask your crime, for certainly you found it necessary to

You already know what you should do at this point to begin the process of moving forward:

- BEFORE TAKING ANY STEPS, ENGAGE AN ATTORNEY WHO PRACTICES IN CRIMINAL MATTERS;
- Submit your immediate resignation to the president;
- Confess to the board and ask for forgiveness;
- Humbly accept whatever judgment is handed out, both from the executive board and from the court of law.

To those respondents whose advice is to "keep mum" or who advise similarly to "keep it to yourself," I robustly suggest, without equivocation or apology, that such an approach absolutely is incorrect, and you need to re-evaluate your reasons for arriving at such a conclusion. The operations of a non-profit corporation, in this case a homeowner association, should at all times be open and transparent. It will not serve the membership positively by keeping this matter under wraps. If the board of directors does the right thing, it is entirely likely that criminal charges will be brought against the perpetrator, a criminal investigation will follow, and some sort of court action will ensue. Such matters cannot be hidden from the public. Members of the association will learn of the incident, and ultimately they will be incensed at the theft that transpired, but there is no doubt that they will be utterly outraged if the board were to attempt to keep this matter silent. The right thing for the board to do, when it learns of what happened, is to seek the advice of legal counsel, and to follow the process suggested by counsel.

BrookeN (Georgia) may be telling the whole truth. Maybe she totally &sincerely regrets and has fully repaid. Only she can know at this point.

Respectfully, 'confirmation bias' seekers cynically come to sites like this selectively looking for - amongst others - an idea of how likely will be detection , what sort of consequences etc. It ain't necessarily her.

My 2 cents:

Sign out of this discussion group and don't put yourself through 'reading and re-reading' the comments. Clear your head - do something productive and completely unrelated to your current turmoil. Make whatever decision you make, when you are ready to make it, privately. Do not put anything else in writing until you consult an attorney - should you decide to do so. Personally, I would consult an attorney in hopes of finding the best way to disclose (or not) and move forward.

Like I stated earlier... The best advise I ever got was from my aunt. She told me that if you suspected someone cheated on you and they try to "confess" it to you do NOT let them! It is their way of relieving themselves of the guilt they have. You did not cheat or lie. Why should you burden their guilt?

It is the same as admitting a crime or other lies. Simply put, your trying to relieve your own guilty by admitting wrong doing. They say if you ever go to a jail you can tell the "guilty ones" versus the "innocent ones". The guilty ones will sleep like a baby. Their burden of guilt has been lifted because they are getting what they feel they deserve or have confessed. The innocent people can't sleep because they have the burden of someone else' crime upon them.

I am sorry it's not what you want to hear but it's your guilt you have to live with. You can either suffer in silence or you can confess it to the world. Confessing it to the world has it's own consequences. Such as living life like a Scarlett letter or going to jail. The choice is yours on how you want to live with your own guilt...

OP...you are not walking around with a sign on your head which says "I am a bad person". You did what you did for personal reasons, and you did the right thing by repaying the funds. If it truly was related to a severe illness, there might be some forgiveness by the HOA warranted, should you decide to acknowledge your behavior to them. If you decide to continue on in the Treasurer position, and even if you simply resign because you have been doing this for several years and are just "worn out", the likelihood of someone looking back at the books is slim and none. I know in my HOA that we NEVER have done an audit, which I find remarkable, but that is the case.

There is, however, a slight chance that the situation could unravel, for whatever reason. On that basis, I would consult an attorney and ask his advice. He can't advise you to lie, but he can advise you as to what the options are if you decide to acknowledge your actions with the Board, which, BTW, I would discuss in private with ONE member of the Board and sound out their response if you decide to go that route. This is not a horrible, world ending, event. You were in a horrible situation and you borrowed money from the HOA. You repaid the funds. Were it not for your honesty, no one would ever be the wiser.

But I can understand, as a decent person, you may wish to unburden your soul. However, it may not be possible to do so. That may be your punishment: keeping a dirty little secret just that, a secret. We all have them. Things which we wished we had not done, and which we will carry to the grave. That alone is punishment.

Good luck. Probably best to understand your options, and then keep quiet--however difficult that might be.

BTW, I know someone who was involved in a cover up of a theft from the local PTO. The matter was discussed within the Board and was kept quiet as long as the thief repaid the funds. I was always astonished that it resolved in such a matter, but basically it was someone doing something wrong, and other people being compassionate about that person's (indigent) situation. Not dissimilar to your situation, OP.

There is a lesson to learn from this example. When ever money is involved there can be the temtation for stealing, particularly when one becomes desparate. I do not comprehend why any HOA would not set up procedures to prevent theft. I read about HOA theft every week!!

Years ago the management company we own set up procedures which minimize opportunities for theft to the extent possible; and to recognized any theft within 30 days. All HOAs need to set up such procedures plus they should also have crime fidelity insurance.

BTW, IMO 2 signatures on checks is not an effective procedure. It can not stop theft whenever just one signature is required by a financial institution. There are several procedures which which can be followed which will help eliminate possibilities for theft; 2 signatures is not one of them. However, two signatures does afford a level of "comfort" for some authorized signers of an account.

You embezzled funds.

You replaced said funds.

You are now a felon (albeit unconvicted).

You are contrite.

You are remorseful.

No one (except yourself) was actually affected.

IMO, your choices:

Attorney, do what they recommend.

Turn yourself into police, accept consequences.

Notify HOA BOD, accept consequences.

Move, hope for the best.

Ignore matter, pretend it never happened.

pick one and then be quiet

Guillotine...guillotine...guillotine...