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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