ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Members of an Albuquerque homeowner association are now paying much closer attention to what the association is doing with their money. And they want other HOA members to learn from their experience.
Fed up with how their neighborhood looked, a few members asked to look at the association’s finances. They wanted to know what their dues were paying for each month. Now, their HOA is under new leadership, as the Albuquerque Police Department investigates suspected mishandling of their payments.
KRQE Investigates
“These are all the boxes that we acquired when we became the — Well, actually, I became the interim president for right now,” Jocelynn Reichbach said. She showed KRQE Investigates a room of several disheveled boxes of documents given to her by the now-former president of her HOA.
KRQE is not naming the HOA or the President to protect her identity. At this point, she has not been charged with a crime.
“It’s $600 even for every single one. So, there wasn’t even a time that she missed on a monthly basis,” Reichbach said while sifting through a handful of check receipts. They show $600 paid monthly directly to the now-former HOA president, signed by the now-former HOA president.
“And it says $10 per home. So, I was like, what does that mean?” Reichbach added. “You were not aware of that?” Investigative Reporter Ann Pierret asked. “No, I was not. None of us were aware of that!” Reichbach said.
She explained that members pay $50 a month as part of the HOA. And, according to multiple association expense reports, bank statements, and check receipts—going back at least 15 years to 2009—the now-former president was paid $10 each month from everyone’s dues but her own. That’s about $7,200 a year, or 20 percent of the HOA’s annual income. Neighbors want to know why and where that money went. The checks said “maintenance.”
While sorting through the HOA’s records, Reichbach’s looked for but never found any documentation dating back to 2009 stating the president of the nonprofit could pay herself a monthly salary. “So, we haven’t found anything like that. And I, we’ve asked neighbors and nothing to back that piece up,” she added.
And, the HOA’s bylaws state neighbors have to approve any payments with a vote. “It doesn’t specifically state any like salary or hourly wage in there. It kind of just says like if, you know, like, like you can get reimbursed for expenses,” Reichbach said. But she added, that was not voted on because the HOA has not had a meeting, at least not since she moved into the gated community in 2019. Luis Oaxaca, who purchased his home in 2012 said the same, “Never done any meetings.”
That means the association has never held elections, either. So, the now-former president held the position, the two said, since she was first elected in 2003.
“I mean, your own people. You’re taking money away from them,” Oaxaca said. “This is not right.” He was one of the neighbors who attended a few meetings in June to talk about moving forward. And, around the same time, Oaxaca said the members received a resignation letter from the longtime president.
She did not show up to their meetings, but her husband did. Oaxaca shared, “He wanted to talk and to excuse himself and his wife. And I said I’m not going to let that happen here in front of all these people.”
He started recording a video when the meeting got heated, with the husband telling members some people knew about the payments. “They’re not here today because, um, they just haven’t. But in all honesty, we felt that the amount of work that we were putting into that, uh, the time and effort — We were putting 40 to 50 hours a month into it by filing liens against people who don’t pay their dues on time, by dealing with the courts and the lawyers, by going to the city back and forth,” the husband said in the video.
“But to be fair. If you are paying yourself, that should be sent to everyone without people asking. I think that is fair,” a neighbor told the husband. He responded, “Agreed and — We never updated that. But there were people who knew.” Someone started to interrupt him, and he added, “I’m admitting the mistakes were made.”
“Mistakes” is not a strong enough word for Reichbach. She believes the now-former president committed a crime. Reichbach filed a police report. Albuquerque Police’s Organized Crime Unit is investigating.
She also called the New Mexico Department of Justice and the Secretary of State, thinking they would help her hold the now-former president accountable. But she quickly learned there is no department in any local or state government office that oversees HOAs.
The members’ only other recourse is paying for an attorney to sue. “I was just like, wow, you know, like there’s like nobody who enforces anything about HOA. So, you know, what I mean? It’s, like, basically a person can just get away with doing a lot of stuff if nobody’s paying attention,” Reichbach said.
She and Oaxaca never expected to deal with anything like this. “I know there’s a lot of HOAs in Albuquerque. They might be suffering,” Oaxaca said. “And it’s just — the people that can stand up and, and fight for their rights, because a lot of people is taking advantage like these people.” Reichbach added, “How did someone, like, steal from other people for like years on end and, and feel okay about it?”
KRQE Investigative Reporter Ann Pierret tried to reach the now-former president by telephone. She never returned the call. Pierret did connect with her husband who said he would have his attorney call her. He added, “We have nothing to hide.” No one has reached out. The couple’s house is now up for sale. Neighbors said they watched them pack up their home in early August.
Some homeowner associations hire a manager to serve as oversight. The outside company or individual will then handle the association’s finances and hold the HOA to its bylaws. Reichbach said the neighborhood looked into this option, but decided it is too expensive for now.
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