Condo Association Management Blog

I am an association mgr. of a 14 unit condo building. We are going through the same transition...First, get a good lawyer! Yes, you are a non-profit corp...Make sure you have the incorporation certificate...Yes, you must file your taxes. And stay on top of collections in regard to maintenance...You can charge interest--And make sure you put liens immediately on anyone that doesn't pay the monthly maint. Last bite of advice--go through all the fixed expenses and always find ways to cut costs...

On Banking, as long as you have the incorporation cert. you can go to any bank and open an account! I strongly suggest two signatures on all checks...

In my state, Maryland, there is a state law titled, "Maryland Condominium Act" This is the law in Maryland which deals with condominiums. Amongst other provisions is one that requires evry condominium association to employ a licensed management company. One of the major duties of sucjh a company is providing financial management. Many states have adopted the exact same provisions into their law. Strongly you check with the Secretary of State of your state .I strongly recommend you not atte,pt to "run" by yourselves-first you may be violating your sdtate's laws and should a major mistake be made you may cause real major financial problems your fellow owners.

I know of an excellent online service that offers accounting options for smaller associations. You might be interested in this. They also provide consultations to Boards for general management questions and inquiries as well. Check them out at http://condobooks.net.

Has anyone had experience with a company called HOA Services in Missouri? We used the company and they took $10,000 of our dues money and won't give it back because they closed the account. Dale Palmer is the owner manager.

RE: Dale A. Palmer, HOAS - Fraud, Embezzlement. 
 
Linda, we have just learned today that Dale A. Palmer at HOAS, Home Owners Association Services has stolen money from our association as well as every association that he has managed. He is "based" out of Kansas City, MO but manages associations around the country. We have learned today that he is in FBI custody and has stolen tens of thousands from us and even created accounts under in our name to transfer the money in and out of. 
After receiving this shocking call from his employee this morning and learning about the years of fraud and embezzlement against our association, I googled his name and your post came up. He has been managing us for 3 years and was stealing all along just under our noses.  
He's a professional thief and his employee had learned (from the FBI) that he has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years from all of us. Hopefully be put behind bars for good.  
 
For anyone looking to hire a management company, background checks are PRIORITY 1. I guess we learned the hard way. I'm sorry to hear about your losses as well. 
 
Best of luck to you.

That is correct, Dale Palmer is a criminal.  
 
 
 
I am the employee that previously worked for HOAS. As soon as I was made aware of his criminal activities I immediately started to notify the associations HOAS managed - so far around 90% of the those associations have been contacted, I couldn't locate some board members contact information. It was the WI Police Dept I have spoke to. I have not yet been contacted by the local FBI, but I am anxiously waiting to hear from them.  
 
 
 
I welcome any and all questions, or any help or assistance I can provide to your Association if you have been made a victim of Dale Palmer. 
 
 
 
It's people like Dale Palmer that give hoa property managers/companies a bad name. I now must do all I can to salvage my career and good name in the state of Missouri, in my own home town of Kansas City. I will not rest until Dale Palmer is convicted and justice has been served. 
 
 
 
Bryan

I just realized, after reading the blog by Mack that he mentioned condobooks.net. This IS AN HOAS BASED SERVICE! DO NOT USE CONDOBOOKS.NET. This is a service Dale Palmer launched. 
 

HOAS managed our subdivision in Raymore. Unfortunately for us our community had trust issues with our current board before the Dale Palmer issues, I only hope our community can com together and get trhough this.  
 

Bryan as a former employee, you are brave for what you did and continue to do. Sometimes doing the right thing is not always the easiest thing to do but rest easy knowing it was the right thing to do. There are so many rumors floating around from you being disgruntled employee to Dale himself is literally being held by the FBI as we speak. Keep us all posted and thank you for doing the right thing.

Our association in Kansas City was a victim too. Big thanks to Bryan for doing the right thing and letting people know what has happened before we had to go through the shock of not being able to contact anyone at that closed office.

Has anyone been able to recover all of their funds from Dale palmer?

Our association have discover that the bank account is frozen/blocked.

we also got our balance from us bank but 95% of are funds are not in our account. Is that the case for must accounts? Has there been accounts that have been accurate. Last I heard from the westchester police department Dale palmer is not in custody.Checked with old bank RBC and I was told all bank accounts were closed and there are no open accounts.

TO Bryan; Our Assoc was one of the ten percent not notified and we have only found out there were troubles last week. Any info you have as to how to collect our paper files and funds would be appreciated. Did HOAS have a business insurance company for itself? thanks

Nancy, 
 
I'm sorry, I couldn't recall all of the associations managed by HOAS under the time restraints I had that particular day, only ones I worked with directly, on a regular basis. Email me at bryanstigall@yahoo and I will see what I can do to point you in the right direction. I've made a few contacts that might be able to assist you as well.

How many Associations do you think Dale managed? Just curious. We are small but we were also robbed!! Good luck to everyone...be sure to file a police report if you have been a victim.

Contact your Insurance company to recover loss money. If your policy has a Fiduciary Bond. Put in a claim.

Bryan, You never called our Association. I want proof that Palmer is in FBI custody and that there is no way of us getting our money back. If there is a way. I want to know it too!

Linda, 
 
 
 
I apologize, but I just didn't have all of the contact information for every HOAS managed accounts to notify them all - However I believe I made contact with about 90% of them. An older response (above) provides my direct email address. Please feel free to email me directly if you need any assistance. 
 
 
 
To my knowledge, Dale is NOT in FBI custody. I met with the local FBI a 2nd time about 3 weeks ago - they didn't give me any indication he was in their custody. 
 
 
 
Bryan

I have been reading the post RE: Dale Palmer with a lot of interest as I am a member of the Metcalf 56 Homes Assoc. I am a little concerned Bryan , I know that in the beginning Linda talked to you almost daily. We have copies of email sent by you. So we were in personal contact with you. If I am not justified in my feeling , I am sorry. But being a small association the 10,000 dollars that we are out Hurt our Association and prevents us from dong repairs that is needed. What proof is there that Dale Palmer has been arrested by the FBI. Was it in the Wisconsin new paper, or can we contact the officials there . Do you have a contact number.  
 
Barbara board member of Metcalf 56 Homes Assoc.  
 

Bryan, 
 
Another question: When you first took over our Association your bank was supposedly Bank of America then right before you began collecting a new year of dues you changed our account to somewhere in Atlanta, Georgia. When we received the check to close out our account, it was issued from a bank in Raleigh, NC. and when we went to cash it there wasn't money to cover the $10,000, What other bank do you know of that had Association dues in it and where was it?

If anyone would like to contact me regarding their situation with HOA Services, Dale Palmer or any of the employees please write to metcalf56homes@aol.com. If we work together as a group we might be able to do something. Of course we want our money back but we also want to see anyone involved in stealing it behind bars for good. This is not an issue to keep quiet about. The last contact I had with HOAS was when Bryan Stigall told me to redeposit the check that had already bounced once and it bounced again. If Bryan wants to help he will keep this public and com e clean about everything.

Metcalf 56,  
 
 
 
I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood your blog I responded to yesterday where you stated: "Bryan, You never called our Association.".  
 
 
 
I can't recall exactly what associations or board members I contacted when I found out about Dale Palmer. I found out what he was doing on March 28, 2011 - the next two days I made over 300 phone calls to many associations/board members to inform them of what I knew. These telephone conversations still continue to this day. One of you state I "never called" your association, the other member states "in the beginning Linda talked to you almost daily" - again, I don't recall. I had many of these same conversations with many people over this same issue. However, it's important you understand - I contacted board members for their hoa's benefit. I was nothing but forthcoming and honest with the limited information I had in order to help each HOA to access their money and move forward. I gained nothing from this, other than the satisfaction of what I felt was the right thing to do.  
 
 
 
In the blog written at 10:14, you state "you" multiple times in reference to me. I was not employed with HOAS when they banked with Bank of America - in fact, I was not even employed with HOAS for more than a few months (I was hired in 2010). I have 12 years in this business, only a few months of my career was with HOAS. I was hired for "hoa consulting", that was the ONLY capacity I served HOAS in those few months - I was not the owner, I had no banking authorization, or any financial management responsibilities/money handling for this company on ANY of the HOAS managed properties - I simply provided professional HOA consulting. 
 
 
 
You also stated "The last contact I had with HOAS was when Bryan Stigall told me to redeposit the check that had already bounced once and it bounced again". This was obviously PRIOR to March 28, 2011 - before I had ANY clue of what was going on. During this bank transition there were a few check issues with multiple associations. When I received these calls I asked Dale what was going on, then I provided the answer he gave me to each of those calls; I answered by Dale's direction (as any employee would do). At the time I had no clue there were any illegal activities going on, as well as there were no clear indications he was up to no good. So yes, I'm sure I said to re-deposit this check you are referring to because prior to March 28 I was under the impression all of the properties HOAS managed had money in their accounts.  
 
 
 
Furthermore, I do not appreciate the insinuations written towards me in the past couple of blogs. As I have told many, I am willing to help anyone that cares to contact me. You posted to this blog, so I'm sure you read where I stated this on here months ago (I subscribed to this specific blog just for owners to find and contact me). You also stated, regarding me, "to keep this public and come clean about everything" - remember, it was me that contacted 90% of the associations (do you even realize how difficult that was for me to do?). I could have just started my job search that next day and moved on with my life to provide for my family - instead, I chose to notify everyone I could and put my own life on hold.  
 
 
 
So...if you feel I have had any part in what Dale has done, as well as if I continue to read similar blogs that state MY NAME in this manner, please let me know - my attorney will be in touch promptly. Otherwise, if you would like to gain a little more information I have gathered over the past few months, various options some of the other association's have looked into, etc., then feel free to email me (I still keep in touch with around 70% of them, on excellent terms I might add). But - posting insinuations like you did, especially stating MY NAME in this manner through an open, public forum is certainly not the proper way of going about business - I would seriously re-consider doing so again in the future. 
 
 
 
Bryan 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bryan you can be as mad as you like about anything I have said on the blog but the fact remains that my Association is out over $10,000 and expecting answers from you or any other employee is not beyond the realm of understanding for anyone. 
 
Before you go threatening anyone with legal action you should think about why I believe this whole thing should be made public. I have no proof that you did what you said you did, but I do know that you didn't get in touch with me and you knew our check had bounced. What am I supposed to think?  
 
If you know more than you are letting on publicly, then perhaps you are holding back some vital information? I am sure our attorney would like to know what that might be.  
 
Of course this email will be forwarded on to our attorney. We want our money back and we want Palmer in jail. 
 

Hey...no need for everyone to get nasty. I've talked to a lot of authorities and the only one being investigated is Dale. One of our county's sheriffs told me that they were in search of Dale but that he had fled the country. Let's face it....we've been scammed. I was told that the banks carry fraud insurance and they should be able to refund our monies....first we just need to let them do the investigation.

No doubt we have been scammed. My concern is that if we just sit back and only talk to select people, nothing will ever happen. Is anybody willing to get together and go to Call For Action or try to come up with some solution?

I understand Linda....We have known since the 1st of April. I've filed a police report and talked twice to the FBI. I called IRS and confirmed that an extension was filed for our taxes as they did not file them. So...they tell me to wait now until the investigation is complete. If I learn anything else, I'll post it here. There is strength in numbers....for sure. Many of you lost way more than we did but it is the principle of the whole thing for me. He is a thief!!

I agree JN. I have filed complaints with the Missouri & Kansas Attorney General's offices, the Johnson County DA and the FBI, the Better Business Bureau as well as filing suit against Palmer and the company in court.  
 
I have stated the facts as they happened to our Association and was the first person to post on this site about Dale Palmer in December 2010. I want to be above board and public because I believe it will help everyone who has been affected by this.

Has anyone heard anything further on the FBI investigation?  
 
(For the record, Bryan called our association as well and was very helpful. We also heard from the FBI that there was no suspicion toward his employees, only Mr. Palmer.)

Hey...they must have him as I got a letter from the U.S. Dept of Justice. He pled guilty! Does anyone know any more about this?

When the news contacted me, it was because i was the only person who would talk to them about Palmer. According to them he stole over $750,000 from various associations. Not only did I write both the Kansas and Missouri Attorney General's offices, but we hired a lawyer who was able to find and serve Palmer. I called the FBI immediately when we got a good address on him. They way I look at it, if anyone has been told not to talk about this, then there is a reason for it. Also, GET INSURANCE! Bug the FBI until they give you answers. You can bet that Palmer plead guilty to lessen his time so find out when he is scheduled for sentencing and go or ask the AG for a chance to speak. I am always available if anyone wants to talk about this.

We had been having issues with HOAS for several months and had terminated our contract effective the 1st of December 2010. There was in excess of $50,000.00 in our account at that time. As of early March 2011 we still were trying to get our money. Our atttorney sent a letter to Dale advising him that, on our behalf, he was preparing to file suit against him if we didn't have the money in the form of a good cashier's check by the end of that week. We received the check late Thursday prior to receiving the call from Bryan on Monday. We were extremely fortunate. 
 
 
 
We were happy to hear that Dale had been caught. We always felt there was something going on but we had no proof. 
 
 
 
I would like to attend his sentencing.

I am so grateful that our attorney found Palmer and he pled guilty. Too bad they don't have some of his victims in court before he is sentenced.