There’s no rehab for stupidity
“Right now there's no rehab for stupidity.”
—Chris Rock

From an owners website

The Shadowmoss Plantation was one of the owner associations that was managed by Marshland Communities, and its owner Karen Colie, who is under investigation for misappropriating funds from at least some of them.

An ex-employee stated that Karen Colie remarked that: "I only took money from the ones I could get away with".

The present board of directors is facing an owners recall for, among other issues, the board's failure to follow the by-laws on signing the cheques and failing to hire an accountant to audit the financial statements.

It has been disclosed that when Marshland Communities managed the property, the Shadowmoss directors did not sign any of the cheques even though the corporation's by-laws stated that both the president and the treasurer must sign all cheques. They also failed to engage an accountant to audit the books.

From an homeowners website:
The board is not following the by-laws which call for the president and treasurer to sign all checks and to hire a manager with a vote of the members.

The By-laws are very clear when they state that the board treasurer shall —SIGN ALL CHECKS. The By-laws are very clear when they state that the board president shall CO-SIGN ALL CHECKS. These particular by-laws are in place to protect against fraud or theft. These by-laws can be viewed below:

The board letter stated: “ArticleVII provides that the board may employ a manager, and to prescribe their duties, these to include daily business of the HOA."

The current board applied Article VII in the sense they blindly trusted Marshland and Karen Colie with full access to HOA money without using the checks and balance system mandated in the bylaws. The board did not sign checks nor did the board approve any invoices prior to Karen Colie being investigated.

Karen Colie had complete control of the HOA's finances which allowed her easy access to HOA money. That is why the by-laws were clear in stating that the president and treasurer have to sign the checks.”

The board's letter then goes on to state:
“that the logistics of being a board member are cumbersome for physical check signing.”

The website states:
It's really hard to believe that a voluntary board believes it's too much work to approve what's going on in the HOA, follow the by-laws and protect their HOA from theft.

To date, according to the current board, the president and treasurer are still not signing the checks nor has an audit been performed, as mandated by the HOA by-laws.

Additionally, in 2016 the current board hired Community Management Group (CMG) without a vote from membership.


Repeating the same errors?
Following the alleged theft of funds by Marshland Communities, the HOA board hired a new management company, CMG, without doing a background check. However, a homeowner did a public records search and quickly found that two local HOAs have filed legal complaints against the CMG.

Both resolved their lawsuits with out of court settlements. Complaints alleged financial mismanagement of HOA funds.

The president responds
As part of a  Live5 News report on 21 September 2016, Shadowmoss Plantation’s current HOA board President Aaron Richard spoke with Live 5 to answer the resident’s concerns.

“That’s a fair question,” he said, referring to why there hasn’t been an audit yet. “The board has agreed on getting an audit. We fully intend to do one.”

But it’s not as immediate of an issue as some think, he believes.

First of all, if there is money missing, they aren’t sure when the loss started.

It might have happened for six months, it might have been two years, said Richard.

He said forensic audits can cost seven thousand dollars per year of review.

“Most of the firms we’ve met with have strongly advised us to wait until the federal investigation is concluded for two reasons. For one, we don’t know where to start if we don’t give them a start date. Two, the federal investigation is going to do a lot of that legwork for us. Which will save a lot of money on the community side,” said Richard.

The last word
“You really do need to pay attention to your HOA,” said Rebecca O’Grady, an owner. “These people have a lot more authority than you think they do.”

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