Cecily insisted that he provide the documents through the association’s proper disclosure process rather than quietly handing over records that belonged to the board.
Paul agreed and arranged for the records to be made available to an independent accountant retained by a vote of the remaining directors.
Her name was Dana Keene, and she had spent twenty years examining small nonprofit organizations and residential associations.
Dana warned everyone that she would not make conclusions until she could reconcile invoices, bank statements, approvals, and proof of services.
The first week of her review produced an unexpected result.
Several payments to Whitmore Community Solutions were real, but a portion of the billing appeared to cover work performed by a second contractor that the board had never formally approved.
The contractor was called Cedar Trace Field Services.
Its owner, a man named Gavin Holt, had attended two neighborhood meetings but had never introduced himself as a vendor.
Dana found invoices charging the association for urgent inspections, emergency repairs, and after-hours compliance visits.
Some of the invoices were dated on days when residents had reported no activity at the listed locations.
Other charges corresponded to actual visits by a worker whose name appeared nowhere on the contractor’s paperwork.
Cecily reminded me that missing names and uncertain dates could result from poor recordkeeping rather than deliberate fraud.
I agreed, but I wanted the association to know who had been paid and for what.
Dana requested supporting material from Gavin through the board’s retained counsel.
He responded by threatening to terminate all future services unless the association stopped its audit.
The threat alarmed Paul because no emergency work was currently scheduled.
Dana preserved the correspondence and continued working.
One Friday afternoon she called Cecily with a more concrete concern.
An invoice attributed to a visit at Evelyn’s house contained a photograph of a different property.
The image showed a blue garage door, while Evelyn’s garage had been white for nineteen years.
The invoice had nevertheless been approved and paid.
Evelyn laughed when I told her about the photograph, but the laugh ended quickly.
“They charged me because someone couldn’t tell a blue door from a white one,” she said.
“They charged the association as well,” Cecily replied.
That difference made the case larger than individual resentment.
CHAPTER TEN: THE FIRST APPEAL
The neighborhood appeals committee had technically existed for years, but most homeowners believed it was controlled entirely by Bettina.
Its three members had never met without a board representative present.
