November 1, 2025 | Mark Luis Foster

Financial malfeasance seems to permeate every industry in America, and while homeowner associations are no exception, it is certainly rare to hear about significant financial fraud among HOAs. When the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was rearing its ugly head, a piece of federal legislation designed to mitigate money laundering in businesses including non profit homeowner associations, we used to joke that there were better ways to defraud an organization than through an HOA.

But in Atlanta, a recent hotbed of bad news for HOAs, there is a former HOA president who is now in deep doo-doo over financial mismanagement and fraud. From Newsbreak:

[Richard] Austin is accused of stealing over $7,000 by submitting an invoice for services that never occurred. Homeowners said they noticed discrepancies in the HOA’s financial records and contacted the police.

Austin is the former president of Magnolia Walk subdivision, located near Atlanta. The homeowners there hired auditors to review the HOA’s books following Austin’s arrest for financial misdeeds.

This whole thing started over a reimbursement request for installation of security cameras. He asked to get paid back for the project, which apparently never occurred in the first place.

According to homeowners, Austin submitted a request for reimbursement for cameras he claimed were installed near the community pool house. However, when authorities contacted the business listed on the invoice, they discovered that Austin had made no payments to the company and that no cameras were installed. This led to police arresting Austin, who now faces charges of felony theft and deception.

Turns out the HOA paid an additional $7,000 to finally get the cameras put in. So, a double payment for the HOA. The HOA is now waiting for audit results to determine if $7K was the total amount taken by the president. But they’re not holding their breath.

“We can’t afford to miss a penny,” [HOA resident] William Washington said.

Here’s the whole story.