WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — More communities across Middle Tennessee say they have fallen victim to what they call a bad-acting property management company, prompting calls for stronger state oversight of the industry.
Gasser Property Management continues to not answer calls from NewsChannel 5, even as more neighborhoods discover missing money from their homeowners association accounts.
Since I started reporting on this story, more than a dozen communities across four counties have reported hundreds of thousands of dollars missing. Three different law enforcement departments have launched investigations into the company.
But it's difficult to determine how far-reaching this case could stretch because Tennessee state laws don't regulate property management companies. A growing number of homeowners say it's time to re-examine state rules.
"There's anger, frustration, disappointment and then it hurts when someone breaks your trust," said a Fountainbrooke neighborhood resident.
Not only is trust broken within the Fountainbrooke neighborhood, but so is one of their bank accounts. They discovered Gasser opened three accounts for their HOA, one of which was frozen by the bank because of suspicions of fraud.
"We saw the breaking news about Gasser property management and started looking into it," said a board member.
Board member Kimberly Calcote said a valuable resource they had to uncover this was crossing notes with multiple other communities working to sever their relationship with Gasser.
"The money is much lower. In total we're looking at maybe $100,000 plus missing? Correct, correct," Calcote said.
"The amount of time we've spent over the last three weeks trying to figure this out. It's taking me away from my family at times. It's taking me away from work at times," Calcote said.
"They are doing a big job that volunteers don't have the time to do," said another resident.
Attorney Marielle Westerman specializes in property law in both Tennessee and Florida.
From her perspective, she said she's not surprised this happened because there is no Tennessee department that oversees, does background checks or regulates property management companies.
"You can have someone with a criminal background, they can embezzle in Florida, come to Tennessee, open up shop and no one's gonna stop them because there's no law that would protect that association," Westerman said. "We want to screen out the people who shouldn't been performing property management services. It is a piece of paper but it means something. You wouldn't go to a doctor who isn't licensed or a hairstylist who isn't licensed."
Westerman said the best advice for these affected HOAs is to communicate collectively, identify the money missing, and file police reports.
"If you can get law enforcement at the state attorney to handle the case and prosecute then the restitution comes from that. They can't get some amount of justice without it costing them more," Westerman said.
"We need to know where the money went. I don't think we'll ever see the money back from him, but there should still be consequences for his behavior," said Calcote.
Westerman also advises HOAs to file a complaint with the attorney general's office. The state has received three complaints so far.
While the state doesn't regulate property management companies, they're still required to get business licenses from the county. I discovered at least four counties where Gasser should have a license but doesn't.
I've been looking into Gasser Property Management for almost two months now. My reporting started because a person in our community reached out with concerns about the company. Please email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com with what you want me to look into.
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
