Hendris when I attempted to enforce community standards. You grabbed my daughter, I said loudly. That's a mischaracterization. You left bruises on a 7-year-old's arm. The room erupted in murmurss.
Patricia banned her gavvel. The board moves to impose a special assessment of $5,000 onto Hendrick's property for repeated violations and to serve as deterrent to others who might choose to flagrantly disregard our community standards. $5,000 for chalk drawings and a trash can. That's when Jake stood up. I have some questions before any vote is taken, he said calmly. Patricia's eyes narrowed.
Mr. Hris, this isn't a question nand answer session. According to HOA bylaws, any homeowner has the right to address the board before a vote affecting their property is taken. That's section 12, paragraph 4 of the covenants you love to quote. You could see Patricia's jaw clench.
5 minutes Jake opened his laptop. I've been reviewing the HOA financial records as is my right as a homeowner and I found some interesting things. He turned the laptop around so the screen faced the room. This is a spreadsheet of all HOA fines collected over the past three years. According to our covenants, fine money is supposed to go into the community maintenance fund.
But according to these records, only about 40% of collected fines make it into that fund. Murmurss rippled through the crowd. The rest is categorized as administrative costs. Now, I'm not an accountant, but $60,000 in administrative costs seems excessive for a neighborhood of 80 homes. Patricia stood up.
Those are legitimate expenses. I'm not finished. Jake's voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the room like a knife. I also noticed several payments to something called Thornberry Consulting LLC. $35,000 over two years. That's quite a lot for consulting services.
He paused, letting it sink in. So, I did some research. Thornberry Consulting LLC is registered to a Patricia and Thornberry. You Mrs. Thornberry, you've been paying yourself HOA money through a shell company.
The room exploded. Patricia was red-faced, sputtering that that's taken completely out of context. Those are legitimate consulting fees for services I provide. What services? Jake asked, "What does Thornberry Consulting actually do?
Administrative oversight, violation tracking, financial management, things that you're already paid to do as HOA president. Your position comes with a $12,000 annual statement. So, you're being paid twice to do the same job. " He clicked to another slide. But that's not even the most interesting part. See, I also noticed some large expenditures for landscaping services, $250,000 over for years to a company called Greenscape Solutions.
He looked directly at Robert Chen, the board treasurer. That seemed high to me. So, I called Greenscape Solutions, talked to the owner, nice guy. He told me they did work for this HOA 5 years ago, but the board switched to a cheaper service after one year. Robert Chen had gone pale.
So, who's been getting that money for the past three years? Jake continued. Well, Greenscape Solutions sold their company name and business license in 2021 to Robert Chen, who has been billing the HOA for services never rendered and splitting the money with. He pulled out a bank statement, Patricia Thornberry. Both of your names are on a joint account where these funds are deposited.