Living at Meritage's Live Oak Development in Redlands, CA

Despite the fact that we were the only residents in our motor court when we took possession of our new home in late February 2025 ( and that there was plenty of street parking !) , we started having issues related to egress/ ingress from/ to our garage early on.  O n the afternoon of March 18, 2025- a little over 2 weeks after moving in- I was forced to reach out to our After-Sales Customer Service Rep, Hector Estrada, regarding two vehicles that were parked at the end of the motor court in front of our garage. I explained that this was the second such incident and Mr. Estrada assisted by getting these individuals to, eventually, move their two vehicles to the street.   We were annoyed (but not yet losing sleep over the matter) and resolved to inform Keystone, the property management company, of our nascent issue with unpermitted parking in the motor court. Text Message to Meritage Customer Service Re 2 Vehicles Blocking Egress From Our Garage Approximately 1.5 mont...

We understood that our days at our new home were numbered after Meritage Sales' hostile phone call on May 1, 2025 during which I was threatened with arrest because I was telling folks that parking in the motor courts was not permitted.  By the end of our August 11, 2025 IDR meeting in which I found myself facing-off against the HOA's bully attorney, it was clear to us that we would have to sell our new home. And try we did, but it is challenging to offload a property when Meritage Homes is simultaneously selling similar brand new ones for which it's offering aggressive sales incentives such as significant closing cost credits and interest rate buydowns that rip into your already heavily-discounted list price.  The real estate market itself proved to be another hurdle since, despite being less than a year after the close of escrow, our property was now valued at less than what we paid.  The third major hurdle we faced was that of having to disclose to potential buyers the ...

I have been copying our Meritage Homes-controlled HOA President, Efram Joelson (Vice President of Forward Planning for Meritage Homes), on my emails to Management for some time since being prohibited from communicating with our Keystone property manager in May 2025.  At this juncture, although I know better than to expect one, I am, occasionally, surprised with a response. For example, Mr. Joelson recently weighed in on an issue I've been addressing since June 9, 2025 regarding Meritage employees and trade partners who habitually park in the motor courts.  I had originally emailed my concerns to Doug Kemmerer, Vice President of Southern California Operations, last Summer: Of course, Mr. Kemmerer never replied, but we did receive a response shortly thereafter from our After-Sales Customer Service Rep, Hector Estrada, who appears to have been instructed to relay that Meritage employees and trade partners had been told  not to park in the motor courts once a home was no lon...

We have attempted to engage the HOA's President in a discussion regarding the community's violation fine schedule since August 2025, but continue to be ignored and have yet to receive a reply as of May 2026.  Specifically, we have attempted to address that the fine schedule is outdated and, therefore, invalid as it does not conform to the new California law (AB 130) that went into effect on June 30, 2025 and caps fines at $100 (unless they relate to health or safety issues).     The issue resurfaced recently since fines amounting to a few hundred dollars were posted to our account.  We reached out to our attorneys for guidance and learned that,  given the invalid fine schedule, the HOA cannot lawfully impose monetary penalties on homeowners.  We were hoping to reverse fines for the entire community, but were informed that each household is required to dispute their own.  We demanded that the fines posted to our account be immediately reversed...

TOWING - MOTOR COURT PARKING Pursuant to CC&R Section 4.28 , ... The Association shall enforce its respective parking restrictions by all lawful means, including... towing of any violating vehicle.  The Association shall contract with a towing company to remove vehicles that violate the no parking restrictions and shall provide the Owners with a telephone number to report violations . "    What is the criteria and procedure for towing?  Has the HOA contracted with a towing company as required by the CC&Rs to address unpermitted motor court parking?   If not, please explain why. If so, what is the phone number for the towing company to report vehicles that are improperly parked in the motor courts?    ENFORCEMENT - REQUIRED GARAGE PARKING FOR 2 VEHICLES Pursuant to Section 7.1.2 of the Rules + Regulations , Each Owner shall keep in his/her garage readily available for parking of permitted vehicles and shall not store any goods or materials ...

  HOA Hell:  California Homeowners' Definitive Guide to Beating Bad HOAs  (Michael Kushner, Esq.)  An intro to a new book about bad HOAs based on select excerpts:  For most people, buying a new home is an achievement, and rightly so.  But since more and more residential communities are governed by HOAs in California, it’s important for homeowners living in those associations to understand that in addition to buying a new home, they’re also buying into a private form of government—a legal structure with rules, penalties, and enforcement powers that often mimic the powers of local government.  These private governments are known as homeowners associations, or HOAs, and they govern millions of properties in California.  The Davis-Stirling Act is the primary body of law that governs HOAs in California.  It gives boards significant authority to carry out their duties, the most important of which are to maintain the common areas, enforce the govern...