Deposit of dues and assessments to personal account

Paid my dues and assessments by a credit card. Gave this information over the phone to the HOA board bookkeeper. This showed up on my monthly statement as being used in a personal account of the treasure and board member.Is this a proper way to handle funds. Should the funds be deposited/collected and put into a bank account for the association and not a individual member of the board.

It's possible (not the right thing to do, but possible) that the Treasurer/bookkeeper has a side business where they can accept credit card payments and the Association does not and they were doing you a favor.

I agree with others, contact the President of the Board, copy to all other board members, simply pointing out what you discovered. Make zero accusations and simply ask what are the Association procedures/policies regarding credit card payments.

Usually HOA's don't take credit cards for dues payments. It's not a good practice. Surprised they even accepted it at all. We would not accept credit card. It's either cash (with receipt), check, or automatic withdrawal. My bet is that the treasurer does have one of those attachments on a cell phone that can run one through. Which would then show up under their name or business name.

BTW: Our water account is under an individual's name. Don't think they ever live there anymore. Water department would not accept our clubhouse as a "billing address" to set up water. It does not have a mailbox. So when you see the actual Bill it doesn't have our HOA name on it.

Laundered? LOL.

Yea, I do it. What is the dangers in your eyes? Other than the person giving it to me doesn't get a receipt.

They give me cash, I send a check to the treasurer, she credits their account.

Well... What could be wrong? Mmm... Someone who pays cash is a bit suspect when it comes to paying dues or rent. That is why an accountant doesn't like it. Ever wonder why they don't do it? It's not just the receipt thing. Those get lost. It becomes a he said/she said situation. It doesn't provide proper record keeping or accuracy. What if they need to find these owners? It's going to be your check with your name on it on record with the HOA. It's almost like your co-signing for that person. Checks are one of the few ways an accountant for an HOA can identify the owner of that property. I know our HOA used the address on the checks written to track down owners. If it wasn't for that, we may not know where the "real" owners were to go collect.

It doesn't happen often, but I agree 100% with everything Melissa said. Proper record keeping is vital and I'll bet the way it's being done is not in accordance with good accounting principles. Even if you're completely honest and trustwortthy, and I'll assume you are, that is not an arrangement I'd be happy with, even if the amounts were small.

We pay our dues quarterly via a bank lock box system. They accept any form of payment including, I believe, cash at one of their branch offices.

LOL! Someone who pays with cash is suspect?? There are still people in this country that cash their paychecks and pay their bills with cash. I see people do it all the time at grocery stores and even utility companies. You’re making things worse, and more complicated, than it needs to be. US currency is still accepted at nearly all businesses and is totally acceptable for paying any debt.
The money is deposited into my account. I then process a payment to the HOA with THEIR name and lot number on the check. I receive a notice from the treasurer when the payment is received and she credits that lot’s account.
You said: Checks are one of the few ways an accountant for an HOA can identify the owner of that property
You need a new accountant if this is true for you. Anyone, and I do mean anyone, can do a parcel search and see who the owner is of the property. I actually used the assessor site for this very reason to make sure people that were voting were owners and not renters.
Plus, you can have your checks printed with whatever address you want on them. I used to leave of my address and put “void in 30 days” on them.


No, I don’t. My income is reported to the federal government by my employer. I’m given a W-2 at the end of the year (beginning of the next actually) to use for my taxes. There is absolutely no reason for me to report any monies as income that are not income. I do not own a business therefore I cannot use business expenses on my return.


I agree with your last sentence for sure! I was being a good guy taking care of things that I really didn’t need to do, and ended up being the president of the HOA! Talk about a bite in the butt!
Yes, people can obtain a checking account. We have no rules against that. They can use money orders, cashiers checks, personal checks if they want to. We also accept cash!


This is greek to me at this point.
What is Check City people?
The paper trail is dead. It’s mostly digital now. Most people pay their bills with the click of a mouse. I haven’t written a check in over ten years.

Why can’t HOA’s accept credit card payments?? I don’t know. I know we would!
Paypal. I’m not real familiar with Paypal, but I don’t the HOA is set up to accept payments that way.

You folks need to loosen the tin foil hats a couple notches. I don’t trust or like the government either, but this is all borderline hysteria. The only person that could get screwed in doing it this way, is the lot owner who is paying cash and not getting a receipt.

Sorry for the derail of this thread.

If I go to vegas and win 5K the casino will report it to the government. Then I get a 1099 or something to use when I file my taxes.

The point is, the money residents give me as payment for their dues/assessments is not income for me. The IRS will know this.

Thanks for your input. I will be careful.

I'm not sure what you mean by "very nature", but the reason many utilities, government agencies, and some businesses don't accept cards is that there is a fee that is charged to the organization receiving payment (merchant fee). Some utilities and government agencies do accept CC with a service charge to cover the fee. As long as the HOA receives the full amount due, I wouldn't care if it was by credit card.

This is correct. Many places charge an extra 3-5% if you use a credit card. Many places will give a 3-5% discount if you pay with cash. Probably since they don't have to report that sale to Sam.

Forgot to add. It's not bad business practice or off the wall thinking that a HOA would look at who paid them as the possible owner. It makes perfect sense. It's either the owner giving them the check or someone closely related/connected that owner. Now everyone knows to check for accuracy through other resources if needing to pursue additional actions. However, at first blush when your looking for an owner. Your going to look at the HOA's cancelled checks for an address.

I've had to track down some non-paying owners or identify who owns a property before. My first step is to see who wrote the checks and for what lot. That made it the easiest first step. Why would another person be paying someone's HOA dues if they weren't the owner or knew them? After found out that information and doesn't pan out, then go to the Tax Assessor's office to do more tracking.

It's not necessarily my accountants nor the MC's job to track down non-payers unless it's part of the duties. The Secretary position is often tasked with keeping up with who owns what. That is what our Secretary position included. So don't assume the resources your HOA uses to identify owners. It may not be what you perceive for everyone.

While I understand why you do it, I think it opens you to some liability. As you cannot take credit cards, I suggest you establish a policy of accepting checks or money orders only.

I think that is the best advice. There are several issues Doug may have issue with, but those that are talking about the IRS slamming him are just silly