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Condo owners urge court-ordered forensic audits after alleged self-dealing; industry warns of cost and abuse
Summary
Unit owners and attorneys told lawmakers that a Rocky Hill condominium manager billed excessive labor rates and diverted business to affiliated companies, and they urged HB 7068 to allow court-ordered forensic accountings when boards or managers withhold records.
Unit owners, attorneys and a forensic accountant pressed the Insurance and Real Estate Committee to allow unit owners to seek court-ordered forensic accountings of common-interest community finances, describing allegations of a property manager charging inflated labor rates and directing business to companies he owned.
Attorney Rachel Baird and unit owner Edward Peruta described a Rocky Hill condominium where, they say, a property manager billed the association at $95 per hour for labor while earlier interviews and contract drafts reflected a $65-per-hour rate. Baird said the board and association counsel failed to compel delivery of records; as a result a unit owner paid a $10,000 retainer to a forensic accountant who still lacks access to invoices and payroll records needed to audit the community's finances.
"We were not seeking money. We were only seeking the records," attorney Rachel Baird told the committee, recounting failed attempts to obtain documents through…
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