JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A massive HOA fraud case in South Florida is raising uncomfortable questions for homeowners in Northeast Florida: Could the same thing happen here?
On “This Week in Jacksonville: Business Edition,” host Kent Justice spoke with Marc Rodriguez, EVP of Market Operations at RealManage, about what the “Hammocks” case revealed — and what boards and homeowners can do now to reduce the risk.
Rodriguez said the Hammocks situation was a textbook example of weak oversight and poor transparency, describing a breakdown that left residents in the dark as money disappeared.
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“Nearly $11 million went missing as a result of just poor oversight and lack of transparency, lack of communication with the residents,” Rodriguez said. “People took advantage of… a position of power with very little oversight and transparency into the operations of that community.”
Rodriguez emphasized that HOA boards — made up of volunteer homeowners — still have a fiduciary duty to protect the community’s funds, and that the basics matter most.
Asked to name must-have internal controls for any HOA, Rodriguez started with a simple safeguard:
“Number one… the dual approval of invoices and of checks and that creates checks and balances for the community,” he said. “In the example of the hammocks that didn’t exist.”
He also pointed to technology that can flag suspicious activity, including systems that work with bank transactions, and ensuring every board member can actually see what’s happening financially.
“It’s very, very important for the board members… to have access to view the transactions that are happening, to review the financial reports that they should be getting on a monthly basis,” Rodriguez said.
For homeowners trying to spot problems early, Rodriguez said one red flag can be keeping assessments artificially low by pushing off maintenance and reserve funding — a risky strategy in Florida, where aging communities and storm-related wear add pressure.
“An early warning sign in my mind is always artificially low assessment rates,” he said. “You wanna make sure that you’re not setting the community up for a bad situation in the future.”
Rodriguez also said Florida homeowners have meaningful rights to records — especially when communities use resident portals that publish minutes and financial documents.
“In Florida, homeowners… have the right to have access to all sorts of records and documents about the community,” he said, including “meeting minutes… financial records, financial reports… and project status.”
Justice closed by urging HOA residents to treat the issue as a governance checklist, not a reason to freak out.
“The takeaway here isn’t panic, it’s process,” Justice said.