3. Why is Parking in the Motor Courts Such a Problem For Us?
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my husband and I moved in to our new home in the Willow community of Meritage's Live Oak development in Redlands, CA on February 28, 2025. Despite the fact that we were the only residents residing in our particular motor court, we started having issues related to egress/ ingress from/ to our garage early on.
On March 18, 2025 circa 4pm, I sent a text message to our Customer Service representative, Hector Estrada, regarding two vehicles that were parked at the end of the motor court directly in front of our home and garage.
I explained that this was the second such incident and requested assistance. Mr. Estrada was able to phone the individuals and get them to move their two vehicles to the street. Though it is irrelevant, at the time, we erroneously assumed that these individuals were Meritage employees since they were not using the garage attached to the property which they were visiting. We were annoyed (but not yet losing sleep over the matter) and resolved to inform the property management company of our issue with unpermitted parking in the motor court.
Text Message to Meritage Customer Service Re 2 Vehicles Blocking Egress From Our Garage
I received contact information for the community's property managers from Mr. Estrada and started communicating with Rochelle Bastian and Taylor Casey Ramos of Keystone Pacific Property Management regarding the issue of unpermitted parking in the motor courts in late March 2025- approximately one month after moving into our new home. In the first half of April 2025, I would inquire and file various reports about:
- "The Blue Tesla" which, until recently, was habitually parked on the street against the direction of traffic (of which Keystone informed us that Management was fully aware);
- Aluminum foil on the street-facing, 2nd floor window at 2032 Bergamot (which has yet to be addressed as of 7/18/25);
- "The Cherokee" habitually parked in the motor court in front of 2071 Bergamot (of which Keystone informed us that Management was also fully aware)
By late April 2025- i.e., one month after initiating correspondence with Keystone- I had grown frustrated given the inordinate amount of time I was spending on reporting efforts which were not being addressed and demanded via email that Keystone do its job (see screenshot). I copied Meritage Sales, who informed me that Meritage cannot intervene once a property is sold and instructed me to contact the HOA and Redlands Code Enforcement. I asked Rochelle Bastian for details regarding the next Board meeting and an opportunity to speak to a Board member, but would never receive a response. Instead, a few days later, I was slapped with a Cease & Desist for the "harassing tone" of my emails to Keystone.
On Sunday, April 27, 2025- a few days prior to receiving the HOA's Cease & Desist letter and approximately 2 months after moving-in- we had an upsetting encounter with the prospective tenants of the owner of 2099 Bergamot, who, after some research, we believe to be a Real Estate Broker named Fahim Tanios. A bit of context is required: prior to April 27, 2025, I'd had 3 different encounters with Mr. Tanios: the first time, when he was parked in the middle of the court and I had to ask him to "at least park closer to the curb" because I was, otherwise, unable to turn into my garage. We spoke briefly a second time on a different day when I again saw him parked in the motor court as I drove out to the street and reminded him that parking in the motor court was not permitted to which he dismissively replied "just 5 minutes". On our third encounter, I gently repeated that parking in the motor court was not permitted and Mr. Tanios waved me off with a hand gesture.
I did not immediately recognize Mr. Tanios' parked vehicle on April 27, 2025 and did not have the opportunity to see him until after the verbal altercation between my husband and I and his prospective tenants. This encounter started when I turned in to the motor court from the street and saw two parked vehicles facing one another and a young man holding a baby in the middle of the court. I assumed he was a new homeowner and welcomed him to the community then proceeded to gently inform him that parking in the motor courts was not permitted. The young man stated, in Spanish, that he did not speak English, so I repeated myself in Spanish. The young man gave me a thumbs-up and walked into 2099 Bergamot where the door was wide open.
As my husband and I moved items from our parked car in the garage to our backyard, we realized that one of the vehicles parked in the court belonged to Mr. Tanios with whom, as I stated earlier, I'd had three prior conversations regarding parking in the motor court. I walked over to 2099 Bergamot and called for Mr. Tanios (whose name we did not know at the time) to again speak with him regarding parking in the motor court. Instead of Mr. Tanios, however, I recall seeing the young man with whom I'd previously spoken, now visibly upset as he descended the stairs and made his way out to the street where he proceeded to argue with us (in perfect English, mind you!). I clarified that I did not wish to engage with him and wanted to speak to the owner of the property. The young man's wife joined him a few moments later and we found ourselves in a pathetic verbal altercation in the middle of the motor court with a young couple who were now calling me a bitch and my husband a faggot. I recall being in shock because the young wife, who was now holding their baby, threatened to throw her baby at me. Actually, to be fair, she asked me if I wanted her to throw her baby at me and I was simply too dumbstruck to be able to reply. I don't recall any involvement on Mr. Tanios' part and vaguely recall seeing him standing at his door with the same look of shock and confusion that had overcome us.
The following day, I emailed a violation report in which I referenced the incident, but never received acknowledgement from Keystone. Instead, as I stated earlier, we would receive (1) a call from Meritage Sales in which I was threatened with arrest if I "continue[d] to drive away Meritage's business" and (2) a Cease & Desist letter from the HOA a few days after Meritage Sales' phone call.
We have asked Mr. Estrada on a few occasions why Meritage Sales and Customer Service fail to communicate to new homeowners that parking in the motor courts is not permitted. His response was something to the effect of “we do, but people don’t listen”. My husband and I have thought about this at length and neither of us recalls a conversation during which Sales offered information regarding the community's parking rules- not even when we inquired about parking ahead of our move. Per our recollection, we were instructed to park our moving containers on the street, but there was never any mention whatsoever regarding the rule that parking is not permitted in the motor courts.
Per my earlier post, on the afternoon that these new homeowners were visiting their new home, I had been forced to contact Mr. Estrada given that their 2 vehicles were blocking egress from our garage. Mr. Estrada assisted by phoning them and, from the inside of our home, my husband and I watched as a woman inside the property at 2097 Bergamot, who was standing by one of the 2nd story windows facing the motor court, shouted at the caller on the other end, presumably Mr. Estrada. I waited a few minutes longer before honking our vehicle's horn a few times. When the homeowners finally emerged, I recall seeing a middle-aged man and woman who were, surprisingly, more annoyed than embarrassed (as I think I would have been had I inadvertently blocked someone's egress from their garage). The man stuck his tongue out at me in a gesture I now interpret as acknowledgment of their mistake. There was no conversation between us except that I did express in an exasperated tone from inside my garage, "you can't park here".
Imagine our shock then upon learning from Mr. Estrada sometime in early to mid-May (i.e., 2 months after the encounter!) that these individuals were, apparently, so offended that they requested a transfer to a different property and may have accused us of harassing and/ or threatening them. So, now it turns out IATA - and a harasser and threatening individual - because I told these folks they couldn't park in front of my garage! The nerve and sense of entitlement of some people!
Then, of course, there's the moment that marked the point of no return. On the afternoon of May 1, 2025- i.e., approximately 3 months after moving in to our new home- we received a lunchtime phone call from Cara Garcia at Meritage Sales who wasted no time threatening me with the police and arrest if I, as she alleged, continued to harass, threaten and drive away Meritage's business. My husband and I were blown-away by the accusations for which I was given zero notice, zero context, and zero opportunity to discuss. As a customer, I would have expected to be treated with respect and professionalism and most certainly not in such a hostile and vulgar manner.
I was (and remain!) f#cking livid - as most people who are treated this way would feel! I raised my voice in outrage as I attempted to defend myself and am unequivocally unapologetic about my tone during that afternoon's phone call because I was merely responding in kind. For the life of me, I can't imagine how Meritage Sales expected that its hostile approach and accusations could lead to a civil and productive conversation. To be clear, as my husband and I recall, Meritage Sales did not call to discuss anything- Meritage Sales called to accuse me of driving away its business and threaten me with arrest.
My husband and I will never forget Meritage Sales' phone call and we are reminded of it every time we have to drive by the Sales office on the way out of the community. Personally, I will always remember where I was and what I was doing when the call came in- much as I will always remember where I was and what I was doing when the OJ verdict was read, Princess Diana died, and the Sept 11 attacks occurred. Yeah, that's how outrageous and blindsiding Meritage Sales' call was!
One of the many things that troubles me about this communication is why Meritage Sales waited until May 1, 2025 - i.e., 1.5 months- to accuse me of harassment and threatening behavior... and, of course, why I was never given details nor the opportunity to provide my account. Moreover, there appears to be a discrepancy between Mr. Estrada's text message regarding the March 18, 2025 encounter and Meritage Sales' accusations. Mr. Estrada's text does not allude to any allegations of harassment nor threatening behavior. In fact, he relays to me that the homeowners apologized for blocking egress from our garage. How did this get blown out of proportion? Who at Meritage Sales is responsible for coming-up with the terms "harassment" and "threatening behavior" in regards to the few encounters my husband and I had with 2 sets of unknown homeowners? Where's the evidence to support Meritage Sales' allegations?
I have reached out to the HOA's Legal Counsel for an explanation. Prior to that, I emailed Meritage's VP of Operations for Southern California, Mike Kemmerer, and Customer Service Supervisor, Doug Campbell, respectively. I have also requested an explanation of Keystone Property Manager, Casey Taylor-Ramos. RADIO SILENCE. To date, NO ONE has responded to my request for specifics regarding the alleged accusations of harassment and threatening behavior for which I was threatened with arrest.
I filed a grievance with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and received the following bologna response which, effectively, circumvents my request for evidence of Meritage Sales' allegations and, indirectly confirms that there has been no such harassment or threatening behavior. Meritage's undermining of my character is not worth addressing except to say that its response consists of willful and malicious distortion of the narrative as it relates to my requests for HOA enforcement of community violations. Folks, I cannot stress that, if you are still considering it, it would be foolish to give your business to a company that treats a customer (who just made one of the biggest purchases of their lives!) this way. These guys don't give a shit about you once the sale has been made.
To be clear, I have no expectation that anyone will ever follow-up with my request for details regarding the alleged harassment or threatening behavior since there are simply no details to provide given that I HAVE NEVER HARASSED NOR THREATENED ANYONE in our community nor at the property management company. Telling someone that they cannot park in the motor court - even if expressed with a tone of frustration - is not tantamount to harassment nor threatening behavior. Likewise, asking that Keystone "Do its job!" is not tantamount to harassment nor threatening behavior.
Speaking of unsubstantiated accusations of harassment and threatening behavior, distortion of the narrative, and gaslighting, it appears this may be Meritage's modus operandi as it pertains to the manner in which it deals with customers who voice dissatisfaction or are, otherwise, at odds with the builder. I only recently started researching, but did find a case that precedes mine by a few weeks in which Meritage attempts to turn another frustrated homeowner into a threatening individual because of his tone.
We are repulsed by Meritage and regret not having conducted more thorough due diligence prior to handing them our business. My husband and I agree that Meritage has the worst employees we have ever come across- it's been an awful experience from the first meeting with the Sales Department's Manager, Belinda Dean, who was extremely rude to our real estate agent; to our interactions with Sales Agents like Cara Garcia who accused us of driving away Meritage's business and threating us with arrest; to communications with Customer Service Supervisors like Doug Campbell and the VP of Operation, Mike Kemmerer, who completely ignored our repeated pleas for assistance. Yep, we are repulsed - almost to the level of disgust we feel towards The Orange Man. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
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