When I returned from a three-week business trip, I expected everything at my Lake Waverly home to look exactly the same.

Instead, I found a massive new wooden dock stretching across the shoreline beside my property.

At first, I assumed it was a normal HOA improvement project, but after 30 years as a structural engineer, something about the construction immediately felt wrong.

The dock appeared longer than expected, and its placement raised questions about whether it crossed into land connected to my property.

Rather than making accusations, I reviewed my deed, old survey maps, security footage, and county records to understand what had happened.

The evidence suggested the project may have been built beyond the area approved for community use.

When I contacted the HOA, the new board president Lorraine Haskin said the dock had been approved as a neighborhood improvement.

But when I asked for permits, construction plans, and meeting approvals, the records were suddenly difficult to locate.

I contacted the county zoning office, and officials inspected the shoreline to determine whether the construction followed proper regulations.

What started as a simple property boundary question quickly became a larger investigation involving permits, contractor payments, and HOA spending.

Then auditors reviewing the association’s finances discovered several transactions that needed further explanation.

The dock was only the beginning.
The deeper officials looked into the HOA records, the more questions appeared about where the community’s money had actually gone.