One of the country’s largest home builders was fined $16.3 million by a bankruptcy judge who said its employees mismanaged a homeowner association’s finances at a Florida neighborhood and illegally cut services during the housing crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. In his 52-page ruling, Judge A. Jay Cristol said that D.R. Horton Inc. engaged in “immoral, unethical [and] oppressive” behavior when it manipulated the homeowner association budget for Majorca Isles, a 355-condo development in Miami Gardens. The association filed for bankruptcy in 2012. The ruling put a spotlight on the power that home builders have in setting up homeowners associations successfully operate after construction is complete. The damages money is likely to go toward the homeowners association’s finances, said Barry Mukamal.
