Ex-Treasurer Resigned due to Embezzlement -- Still has Financials??

They are still a member of the HOA correct. So they still have rights to copy of the financials as any other member. They just can not be involved with spending any finances. They still should have records and some knowledge during their term of treasurer.

Let me add, when I took over as treasurer, I was handed a box that contained envelopes of receipts, bank statements, check book registers, ledger sheets for each lot and an excel spreadsheet for the actual financials. They were not organized and it took me a good 3 months to identify what was what. It took another 3 months to properly organize all the paperwork.

Yes, the financial records should have been turned over. If the person is flat-out refusing to do so, that's a job for the association's attorney. Perhaps the threat of legal action will get the person's attention, especially if they were allowed to quietly resign without admitting wrongdoing. On the other hand, there may not be much in the way of records - you still need to find out, though.

No, residents should not be directed to the ex-treasurer to resolve disputes over who owes what. The new PM and the board will have to discuss this with each individual homeowner who claims that they've paid - with luck the individual will have some kind of record of payment. If not, then you'll have to wait to see what sort of info the ex-treasurer produces.

I'm also skeptical about the shortfall being due to something other than embezzlement. On the other hand, the ex-treasurer was a bit of a nincompoop for using the HOA's credit card for personal expenses - I mean, you have a written record of his actions, no deniability there. So given this, some of the shortfall could be due to lousy record keeping plus a board that also was asleep at the switch (every board member should review the monthly financials, not just the treasurer).

You may be stuck if neither side can produce records, but that would be a discussion with the HOA's attorney and/or insurance agent. If you were carrying the proper level of fidelity/employee dishonesty insurance, the insurer may make the association whole again as far as the embezzlement goes. Your CC&Rs should address what types and what level of insurance the HOA should be carrying - but you'll want to discuss this before making a claim since $7500 could be under your deductible amount.

FWIW, several years ago an association in my area "lost" $200,000 - nobody had any records, nobody knew where it went. The homeowners eventually had to make up the shortfall, I think.

Thanks Everyone for the response! The invoice didn't indicate which month has the missing payment. The resident pulled their records for the past 15 months to provide to the property management company.

While I understand that the ex-treasurer has the financial knowledge, I find it disturbing that residents are being referred to him for missing payments. With the ex-treasurer already being found guilty of misuse of the association credit card, it's not a far-fetched notion that he could behind some of the missing $25k from October- January. (The association's fiscal year is October-September. The property management company was hired in January. The treasurer resigned the end of February.) Since the property management company came on board, there's only been @$1000 in dues that haven't been collected during the months of January thru May. From October-January, $24,000 wasn't reported as being collected. Definitely a head scratcher.