Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle spoke to dozens of residents part of the Hammocks Community Association Tuesday on the need for new laws to protect them from becoming victims again.
In November, board members were charged with stealing more than $2 million from the homeowners association. Five people in leadership with the HOA were arrested on charges from racketeering, to grand theft, to money laundering.
Rundle said she’s working on a plan to hold HOA leaders more accountable from having to be more transparent with documents to tough consequences for those who break the law.
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“Large HOAs need to have some rules and some regulations,” Rundle said. “There needs to be enforcement. There need to be authority.”
Officials say the group allegedly turned the HOA into a criminal enterprise.
Rundle said those arrested allegedly set up shell companies, stealing millions of dollars from the association for years.
Resident Carlos Villalobos said his monthly HOA fee went from $87 to more than $300 a month.
“Many people lost their homes or they were about to lose their homes,” Villalobos said.
He said he’s glad officials are taking the next steps to prevent other communities from going through what he describes as a nightmare.
“We do need to change the law,” he said.
