Chapter 6 - The HOA Books Had Their Own Pool Problem
Priya lived two streets over.
She was a CPA.
She was also the HOA treasurer.
And she hated Karen.
Not personally, she told me.
“Professionally.”
Apparently that was worse.
Priya contacted Elena after learning we had requested association records.
“I think you need to look at the social committee account,” she said.
The HOA collected modest annual dues for landscaping, gate maintenance, common lighting, and community events.
Nothing enormous.
Karen also ran an informal “neighborhood enhancement committee” that organized seasonal events.
Priya had been questioning its expenses for months.
One invoice stood out.
July Fourth Recreation Event — $4,860
Catering.
Decorations.
Bartending.
Photography.
Security.
All paid from HOA funds.
At our house.
Without our permission.
Karen had charged the association to host a private event on property she didn’t control.
The photographer with the clipboard wasn’t an insurance adjuster.
He was an HOA risk-management contractor Karen had hired to document the event.
That explained the professional photographs.
But it created another question.
Why pay someone to document your own trespass?
Priya answered that by showing us the proposed budget for the following year.
A new line item:
Community Recreation Access Initiative — $72,000
“What is that?” I asked.
Priya shook her head.
“Karen says the neighborhood needs shared recreational facilities because many homes don’t have pools.”
Daniel laughed. “Then build one.”
“The association doesn’t own land for one.”
Exactly.
Elena opened the minutes from a June board workshop.
Karen had proposed exploring “partnership arrangements with private amenity owners.”
There were only six houses in our subdivision with pools large enough for neighborhood events.
Ours was the newest.
And closest to the clubhouse lawn.
Suddenly her complaints during construction looked different.
She wasn’t trying only to stop the pool.
Once she realized she couldn’t, she started trying to control access to it.
I still didn’t understand how one unauthorized party could accomplish that.
Elena did.
“She may be trying to create political pressure, not a legal right.”
“What kind?”
“If enough residents believe your pool was offered for community events, she can later frame you as withdrawing an established neighborhood benefit.”
“That still doesn’t give her my property.”
“No. But it could help her win an HOA vote for something else.”
Something else.
Priya slid one more document across the table.
Karen had proposed a special assessment.
$3,200 per household.
Purpose:
Acquire permanent recreational access rights for community benefit.
The supporting memo referenced “successful resident participation in privately hosted pool events.”
Plural.
Events.
May you like
But there had only been one at my house.
Unless Karen had been doing this elsewhere too.
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