Jackson Jambalaya

Seems awfully lax by the HOA board to not be looking over the shoulder of the management company at the bank account activity.

How the hell do these neighborhood associations have so much money that a half a million can slip out?

I bet the new Costco will help improve your property values at Dinsmor. Shame you fought it.
Now the gas station is closer. HOA should have skipped some of those public meetings and reviewed your HOA manager.
Oh well. You can always walk to Costco to buy some tissues. You might want to use a different lawyer for this suit.

@5:10
Poor person detected. You really have no idea how much wealth is contained in these enclaves. You obviously have no connections and have never been invited into their homes.
Crazy thing is how many of them are simply consultants to government agencies.

Bernie Madoff stole billions for years with the SEC overseeing his operation. If a person of compromised values wants to steal from you, they will find a way. Dinsmor has always had a good board, all volunteers, working to manage the neighborhood. Those taking potshots at the board are the ones least likely to ever be a part of any community oriented support. They are losers.

5:45, um this is Dinsmor. I don’t think so. You might be the poor person detected if you think Dinsmor is where the money is moving. .

I wanta watch somebody walk from Dinsmor to Costco.

Ah...5:53; All HOA Boards consist of 'volunteers'. These are not paid positions. And you're judging others as 'losers'?

Ooops, sorry. I was thinking Reunion, with the walking to Costco comment, not Dinsmore. But, aren't they all the same? Well, yeah.

Community bank seems to be the common denominator regarding crazy check writing.

The HOAs will be repaid and some insurance for officers will kick in.

Richard Ridgway bailed earlier this year....and that should have been a warning sign.

He’s not done

"How the hell do these neighborhood associations have so much money that a half a million can slip out?

November 8, 2019 at 5:10 PM"

Very simple.

This about Madison County.

Not Belhaven or THE Fondren.

@6:42 PM - Exactly. The real money is in Madison Co., not The Fondren, The Belhaven, or The CCJ.

This is probably just the beginning. Our HOA was managed by RL and they were wholly unresponsive and often ignored the HOA Board. Their “financial statements” made no sense and they generally provided no service whatsoever. They were established as the Mgmt company by the initial developer of the neighborhood and the HOA felt powerless to do anything because RL often ignored the board and dealt with the developer...even though the developer was long gone. But all in all this is nothing compared to what is taking place with these various “districts” that the state permits to take out enormous debt on future home and landowners who will have no input into the administration of the district that will be levying assessments to cover money already spent.

I’m glad Eastover was smart enough to not fall into this trap.

This has been going on for years with ridgeway lane. We didn’t detect fraud but poor management so we fired them and that was along time ago.

8:44 pm and 5:41 pm are trying to enlighten.

Not all HOAs are the same or formed the same. Many are "voluntary" and formed by the residents, not required by property purchase. If there is a development with club house and amenities, the expense to maintain those is high.

When the neighborhood is a large development and the developer did not require HOA with the sell of homes, you can hire a management group. But, most neighborhood HOAs are like ours...run by an elected board with money going for maintenance of the entrance and any improvements to the entrance(s) and fencing. The board also works with the city on decisions that will affect a neighborhood.

If , like our neighborhood, there are covenants that are updated by enough residents and thus enforceable, an HOA can enforce those covenants.

But, in every human organization or system, bad people can find ways to be corrupt that would not occur to honest people. That's why there are rules, regulations and laws to make that more difficult. In a time when we have collectively decided rules, regulations and laws are annoying and forgotten ( or not bothered to ask) why they existed in the first place, crime becomes easier. When we are too self-focused or time poor in our pursuit of wealth to think of any greater goals...if wealth is the only definition of success and status and character is ignored, why are we surprised?

Being a good citizen and self-protection, now demands we pay attention and we read " the small print" and stop expecting others to take care of our interests. We don't. We are too busy.

@8:40 AM - excellent comments.

We lived in a gated community in another state for 15-years. For the first ten years the residents were very involved and thus things were great.

Then with a Phase II the culture changed, along with some long-time residents moving or leaving the board.

The board then got less involved and let the management company take over almost everything.

The place went to hell. The management company became overbearing and controlling, and the board looked the other way.

The bottom line is that residents, who have skin in the game, have to stay involved, or things will go downhill fast.

Management companies have no skin in the game.

NEVER, EVER give a management company check-signing authority. You are just asking to be embezzled.

R/L wouldn't even give some neighborhoods a list of their own neighbors' contact info. That should have been a red flag right there. They were secretive and acted as though they owned the neighborhood, not the residents.

I live in Dinsmor and am waiting on my notification . . .

This is Karma for some of the Dinsmor residents who opposed Costco.

Y’all need to understand something. It’s not that the neighborhood boards don’t oversee things. It’s that Ridgway Lane actually is in charge of SENDING the banking information to the boards each month. David Lane himself was simply intercepting the statements and doctoring them before they went to the board. He was a liar as well as a thief.

Is it true that Richard Ridgway was involved with the company within the last year or two? He is a good guy from what I know.

I live in Madison in a subdivision without covenants...and lookie here...I'm happy as a pig in shit.

I'm glad you are happy 8:29pm
Given your choice of self-description, if your property looks and smells like a pig sty, your neighbors are unhappy that you've single handedly lowered their property values significantly.
You lowered your own as well.
As for our HOA, just one action taken in our older neighborhood has resulted in an extra $100,000+ (depending on square footage) per home in value . The homes that were for sale have been bought and redone, contributing more value. This has been good for older residents who sought to relocate nearer their children or down size.
The young professionals with children have invigorated the neighborhood.
You might enjoy this century if you accepted that you live in it.

9:01...Bull Shit with that $100k crap. Prove it.

We have no HOA and our neighborhood is well kept, attractive, neat and orderly. Not everybody actually feels a need to live under the control of an HOA. Surely you understand that, but maybe not.

8:40 - There may well be an HOA, of sorts, formed after a neighborhood is developed, but there can NOT be (enforced) protective covenants. You can also poke a yard of the month sign in someone's yard.

I know personally that Richard Ridgway has not been involved with the operations of the company for quite some time. I’m not sure if legally he is still connected to the business, but he has not been involved for a while.

It seems that the idiots on the Dinsmor Board would have reviewed the bank statement at least quarterly!! A good lawyer could go after their E&O policy.