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Flickr photo credit: seaworthy

Imagine half a million dollars. Now imagine it as the amount your association employee stole from you. That’s just the situation a Newport Beach, Calif. condominium association is facing this week after the arrest of its president, who has allegedly embezzled $530,000 from the group. Forging the treasurer’s signature, the president is alleged to have paid contractors for work they were to have completed on the complex. They in turn gave most of the money back to the president, expecting to be receiving work. The work, the police say, never materialized.

This could be your condo association employee. Even the most dedicated employees – and in some cases, especially the most dedicated employees – can be discovered to be stealing from your association coffers. Experts in fraud detection and embezzlement cases say the typical embezzler is a lifer – an employee who has been in the job a number of years, who rarely takes a vacation, and who has complete control over the finances. That’s because it’s too risky for the embezzler to take time off. Another set of eyes on the books could unravel the theft. Read more…

How much do you trust the staff you’ve hired to manage the front desk? 

I mean we’ve all heard stories about the waiters and waitresses at our favorite restaurant swiping our credit card numbers on a little theft gizmo before running the charge through for the meal.  I’ve actually been a victim of something similar.  Although I love the restaurant dearly (it serves the best Mexican food) I only pay with cash. period. 

Every month large sums of money moves through your books.  Rents come in as income, and then there are expenses – utilities, maintenance, staff, supplies, insurance, taxes, advertising, legal fees, tenant damage, etc.  Do you have safeguards in place to deter sticky fingers?

Do you have one person write checks and another person sign them?  Who reconciles the bank statement each month?  Direct theft is one form of employee dishonesty. 

Another form would be when an employee uses tenant information – credit card numbers, social security numbers, birthdates, etc. to make fraudulent purchases for personal gain.  This form of theft is more difficult to identify.  And yet, you could be named as a party in the lawsuit. Read more…