Author Archives: Beanie
ILLINOIS – Man charged with stealing $150K from Edgewater condo association
A property manager is facing federal charges for allegedly pocketing more than $150,000 in illegal fees from a condominium association in the North Side Edgewater neighborhood.
Alan P. Gold, 65, was arrested Nov. 9 and charged with one count of mail fraud, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Gold, owner and operator of A.P. Gold Realty & Management Inc., had authority over the condo association’s bank accounts, prosecutors said. He was supposed to draw a monthly $650 fee for management services such as collecting special assessments and paying utility providers.
Prosecutors said Gold over-billed the association by withdrawing multiple $650 checks in the same month and tapping into the association’s reserve fund to write “substantially higher” checks to himself. He is accused of stealing $154,271 from the association between 2010 and 2014.
He also tried to conceal the fraud by providing fraudulent monthly statements to the association that showed their account balances higher than they actually were, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Read more:
NEW MEXICO – Albuquerque realtors look to cap processing fee statewide
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An unexpected fee has been hitting homeowners looking to sell their homes, and it’s not cheap. It’s something the city of Albuquerque has cracked down on.
It’s often called a processing fee, charged by homeowners associations to get a document needed to sell a house. However, the fee can get out of control.
“I’m fighting for my clients. This is a customer service industry, and sometimes they don’t have anybody to speak for them,” said John Lucero, a realtor.
Over the past few years, Lucero has seen homeowners association management companies take advantage of his clients looking to sell their homes. These companies will charge homeowners anywhere from $100 to $1000 for a disclosure statement — a document that has to be provided to a buyer. Read more:
National – “Debt Collecting” under FDCPA and FCCPA
NATIONAL – 2017 CHPPI Homeowner Survey
The Coalition for Community Housing Policy in the Public Interest (CHPPI.org) is a nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization that consists of a nationwide consortium of homeowners, housing advocates, real estate professionals, investors, public relations specialists, attorneys, and policy makers.
CHPPI is conducting its second annual housing survey for people living in association-governed communities including homeowners associations, cooperatives, and condominium associations.
CHPPI is proud to report the results of the 2015 survey were recently featured in an exhaustive HOA expose. In August of 2016, nearly 30 daily newspapers across the country with a circulation of 2.4 million readers read about CHPPI’s ground-breaking survey. See: “HOAs From Hell: Homes associations torment residents they’re supposed to support” by veteran award-winning journalist, Judy Thomas.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/special-reports/hoa/
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article93434422.html
In our first survey in 2015, more than 330 HOA homeowners participated. Visit www.CHPPI.org to see the results. Read more:
FLORIDA – Bonita Springs mother evicted despite paying full rent
Article Courtesy of WINK NEWS
Published November 12 , 2016
BONITA SPRINGS — Confusion over the ownership of a Bonita Springs condo led to the sudden eviction of the mother who had just given birth to premature twins.
Michelle Turner said U.S. marshals knocked on her door without warning to serve her an eviction notice. She had no clue that the owner of her home at The Tides at Pelican Landing had forfeited it to the federal government as part of an agreement in a health care fraud case.
|
ARIZONA – Run rabbits run – First Service Residential bolts
Arizonahoa.blogspot.com: Run rabbits run – First Service Residential bolts
By John Sellers
November 10, 2016
Dear AHF
First Service Residential, the country’s largest HOA Management Company, represents 80% of First Service Corporation (“FSV”) which is a public company quoted on the NASDAQ.
We presented their Directors charged under Sarbanes Oxley with certain facts and questions related to the notion that they may be operating more as a bank than a landscaping manager. Sarbanes Oxley was corporate legislation passed in the wake of Enron. Just Google it.
These issues cover:
- “Round-tripping”by FirstService in conjunction with US Bank whereby as much as $1billion of HOA deposits may end up being lent back to them or others. Who knows?
- Failure to follow the Patriot Act anti-Money laundering rules.
- Worst case catastrophic risks to the ACH direct debit money transfer system.
- Whether they and the HOA’s they supposedly manage would not all be lumped together if FSV or an HOA declared bankruptcy.
- Homeowners being in default on their mortgages even if current on payments. Read more:
TEXAS – Memorial residents allegedly uncover HOA holding secret elections after ‘willfully deceiving’ notification practices
Chron.com: Memorial residents allegedly uncover HOA holding secret elections after ‘willfully deceiving’ notification practices
By Jaimy Jones
November 7, 2016
The Clayton Woods Homeowners Association was supposed to hold its annual meeting and board member elections Wednesday evening, but at noon that day an email was sent notifying a handful of parties that the election and meeting was cancelled.
Only it wasn’t.
The email from property management company, Elite Association Management said, “Please be advised that the meeting for Clayton Woods will not be held for an election this evening. Once the Board of Directors has informed me of a date a notice will be sent accordingly. I ask that you please inform your client.”
The email was addressed to Cweren Law Firm, the attorneys representing Sally S. Solomon, resident and member of the Clayton Woods Homeowners Association.
Solomon and her husband, Tedros Teame, would have interpreted that message to mean what most would: That no meeting would take place, nor an election.
But having been involved with this HOA for more than a decade, they knew it was possible that the board was going to conduct some type of business in which they did not want to include the members, or at the very least Solomon and Teame, as that cancellation notice was the only one sent to anyone in the neighborhood.
ARIZONA – Be Afraid! Be Very Afraid!
FLORIDA – Lakeland senior living community in trouble over refusing 27-year-old resident
Article Courtesy of Bay News 9
By Erin Maloney
Published November 2, 2016
LAKELAND — A senior community was found to be in violation of the Fair Housing Act after failing to allow a disabled person to live in the park, even though the person was under the set age limit
.
|
FLORIDA – Hammocks Community Association Employees Charged in Thefts
Article Courtesy of The Office of Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle
Published November 1, 2016
Hammocks Community Association (HCA) employee Angie Rose Lantigua and former employee Leslie Navarro have both been charged after an investigation revealed that they had diverted $148,050.17 of HCA funds into accounts that they personally controlled. Angie Rose Lantigua was employed by HCA as the Accounts Receivable clerk between 2010 and late 2015. Leslie Navarro was employed as the Accounts Payable Clerk by HCA between 2008 and late 2015.
By creating a bank account utilizing the name “Hammocks Community Association Properties, LLC”, Leslie Navarro was able to redirect HCA funds ($148,050.17) to an account over which she had sole control. The investigation of this bank account revealed that $54, 500 was later wire-transferred to Ms. Lantigua’s personal bank account. Read more:
HOA Reform Coalition 