JAXPORT exec. explains \u2018new normal\u2019 for global trade industry<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cNearly $11 million went missing as a result of just poor oversight and lack of transparency, lack of communication with the residents,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cPeople took advantage of\u2026 a position of power with very little oversight and transparency into the operations of that community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez emphasized that HOA boards \u2014 made up of volunteer homeowners \u2014 still have a fiduciary duty to protect the community\u2019s funds, and that the basics matter most.<\/p>\n
Asked to name must-have internal controls for any HOA, Rodriguez started with a simple safeguard:<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber one\u2026 the dual approval of invoices and of checks and that creates checks and balances for the community,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the example of the hammocks that didn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also pointed to technology that can flag suspicious activity, including systems that work with bank transactions, and ensuring every board member can actually see what\u2019s happening financially.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very, very important for the board members\u2026 to have access to view the transactions that are happening, to review the financial reports that they should be getting on a monthly basis,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n
For homeowners trying to spot problems early, Rodriguez said one red flag can be keeping assessments artificially low by pushing off maintenance and reserve funding \u2014 a risky strategy in Florida, where aging communities and storm-related wear add pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn early warning sign in my mind is always artificially low assessment rates,\u201d he said. \u201cYou wanna make sure that you\u2019re not setting the community up for a bad situation in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodriguez also said Florida homeowners have meaningful rights to records \u2014 especially when communities use resident portals that publish minutes and financial documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Florida, homeowners\u2026 have the right to have access to all sorts of records and documents about the community,\u201d he said, including \u201cmeeting minutes\u2026 financial records, financial reports\u2026 and project status.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justice closed by urging HOA residents to treat the issue as a governance checklist, not a reason to freak out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe takeaway here isn\u2019t panic, it\u2019s process,\u201d Justice said.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A massive HOA fraud case in South Florida is raising uncomfortable questions for homeowners in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7364,116,118,117,7363],"class_list":["post-357590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-business-edition","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-this-week-in-jacksonville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}