Judge Hargrove announced that the next phase would determine damages and which properties would be sold to satisfy them, looking directly at the five defendants and stating that homes purchased with stolen money could not be shielded as innocent property.
After three days of deliberation on damages, the total judgment came into focus:
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Repair and restoration costs for Vaughn's home: $322,000.
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Property damage and loss of use: $148,000.
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Investigation and legal costs: $614,000.
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Money stolen from the association fund: $1.49 million.
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Community financial remediation costs: $438,000.
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Punitive damages: $4.2 million.
Bringing the total obligation past $7.2 million before interest and enforcement costs.
Marlene carried the largest share of liability, though all five remained jointly responsible for significant portions of the judgment. The court applied a constructive trust over the equity in their homes built using stolen funds, ruling that every attempted transfer made after the freeze order was void from the start.
Their attorneys requested a payment plan, which Tessa opposed on the grounds that the defendants had lied throughout the investigation, attempted to destroy evidence, tried to transfer assets to dodge the ruling, and left the community fund and Vaughn's home both in urgent need of repair, with several defendants lacking any legitimate income large enough to satisfy the debt over time.
The judge ordered a sale of non-exempt assets, including all five homes, through a fully public process. Vaughn was granted the right to use his portion of the judgment as a credit bid, and the new HOA board transferred him partial enforcement rights over the remaining judgment in exchange for an interest-free, short-term loan to stabilize the reserve fund, restore insurance coverage, pay legitimate vendors, and spare innocent residents from any new assessment. In return, the reformed board assigned him the court-supervised right to recover the fraudulently obtained property, making him the largest creditor in the upcoming sale.