4. Meritage's Accusations + Threats of Arrest and My Accusers
Despite the fact that we were the only residents in our particular motor court when 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. On the afternoon of March 18, 2025- a little over 2 weeks after moving in- I sent a text message to Mr. 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 phoning the homeowners and getting them 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 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 months after this incident - on Sunday, April 27, 2025 - we had another encounter - this time, involving prospective tenants of the owner/ property manager (?) of 2099 Bergamot with whom I'd had 3 prior conversations regarding motor court parking. The day after said incident, I emailed a violation report in which I briefly discussed the upsetting encounter and requested assistance. Though Keystone acknowledged receipt of my complaint, there was never any discussion between us and Management regarding the incident.
As I stated earlier, on the afternoon that these new homeowners were visiting their new home at 2097 Bergamot, I had been forced to contact Mr. Estrada given that their 2 vehicles were blocking egress from our garage. Mr. Estrada promptly assisted by phoning them and, from our property, my husband and I recall watching as a woman, 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 before honking our vehicle's horn and when the homeowners finally emerged, I recall seeing a man and woman of approximately 60 (?) years of age 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 which I, subsequently, interpreted as acknowledgment of their mistake and 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 over a month later that these individuals were, allegedly, so offended by the encounter, that they requested a transfer to a different property (2127 Bergamot?) and may have accused us of harassing and/ or threatening them. I recall my confusion and insistence that I believed Mr. Estrada was mistaken since our encounter with this set of homeowners had been limited to seconds and did not rise to anywhere near a level of harassment or threatening behavior. For his part, Mr. Estrada stood firm in that the information he was sharing had been relayed to him by the Meritage Sales team. Quite frankly, I had dismissed Mr. Estrada's story since I genuinely believed that he was confusing me with someone else… Until the blindsiding May 1, 2025 phone call from Meritage Sales during which Cara Garcia wasted no time in threatening me with arrest if I "continue[d] to drive away Meritage's business". This call would be followed by a Cease & Desist letter from the HOA dated May 8, 2025.
To say that my husband and I were blown-away by Meritage Sales’ and the HOA’s accusations for which we were given zero notice, zero context, and zero opportunity to discuss, is an understatement. We expected to be treated with a certain level of respect and professionalism and never in such a hostile and vulgar manner.
It is incomprehensible that an organization such as Meritage Homes would confront a customer with such serious accusations, but no corresponding opportunity to discuss these. Why would a business burn a bridge with a big-ticket item customer in this manner? As of January 2026, we keep coming back to this question for which we have no answer except to say that we believe that Meritage Sales and the HOA fucked-up royally... i.e., assuming any complaints of harassment and threats had really been filed against us, we were entitled to due process. And, to be clear, my husband and I were never invited to participate in any discussions regarding the alleged reports made against us (which we requested and for which we have yet to receive a reply... likely because no such reports exist!).
I was (and remain!) fucking livid - as most people who are treated this way would feel! I raised my voice in outrage as I attempted to defend myself against Cara Garcia’s vague (and bogus!) accusations and threat of arrest and am unequivocally unapologetic. For the life of me, I will never understand how Meritage Sales expected that its hostile approach and accusations could lead to a productive conversation. But, 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 if we continued to tell folks that they were not allowed to park in front of our garage and that motor court parking was not permitted. We will never forget Sales' May 1, 2025 phone call and are reminded of it every time we have to drive by the Sales office on the way out of or into the community.
One of the many things that troubles me about this call is why Meritage Sales waited until May 1, 2025 to accuse me of something that may have occurred in mid-March 2025 and then, of course, why I was not provided an opportunity to offer my version of the events that transpired. Why was there no due process? And, why was Meritage Sales calling me about HOA matters when it had previously informed me that Sales was unable to assist with HOA issues (as per the email that follows)?
Meritage Sales Indicates It Cannot Intervene in HOA Matters
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 allegations of harassment nor threatening behavior. In fact, he relays to me that the homeowners apologized for blocking egress from our garage. Who at Meritage Sales is responsible for coming-up with the terms "harassment" and "threatening behavior" in regards to the brief encounter I had with this set of homeowners? How did this get blown out of proportion? Where's the evidence to support Meritage Sales' allegations?
Prior to hiring our IDR attorney, I reached out to the HOA's Legal Counsel for an explanation. Prior to that, I'd emailed Meritage's VP of Operations for Southern California, Mike Kemmerer, and Customer Service Supervisor, Doug Campbell, respectively. I also requested an explanation from our Property Manager at Keystone, Casey Taylor-Ramos. RADIO SILENCE. To date, NO ONE at Meritage has bothered to acknowledge my emails nor respond to my repeated request for specifics regarding the alleged accusations of harassment and threatening behavior for which I was threatened with arrest.
UPDATE 8/11/25: During IDR, the HOA's legal counsel informed us that, as a representative of the HOA, he was unable to comment on the allegations of harassment and threatening behavior made by Meritage Sales. (Right!) When the subject was broached, the Meritage-employed HOA Board Member, Nick Harris- a very young guy who appears to have recently graduated from college- shook his head in defense of Meritage Sales, as if to say that my account of the phone call made by Sales on May 1, 2025 was false... but how would he know?!
I have rebutted Meritage’s claims that I harassed realtors in the community given my recorded conversation with the landlord/ property manager of 2099 Bergamot (Conversation with Real Estate Agent re His Alleged Accusations). I have also rebutted the bogus accusations made by Keystone (see Cease & Desist post), so the March 18, 2025 encounter with the homeowners of 2097 Bergamot (who, as we understand, transferred to 2127 Bergamot) represents the remainder of the alleged complaints of harassment against me. To reiterate, despite my repeated requests for redacted complaints, the HOA’s legal counsel has effectively refused to provide these and/ or any context. As such, I can only speculate as to who my alleged accusers may have been given the few encounters we had with a few folks in the motor court prior to receiving Meritage Sales' May 1, 2025 call, the HOA's May 8, 2025 Cease & Desist letter, and my conversations with Mr. Estrada.
I have to add that, if I understood correctly and the couple who allegedly accused us of harassment and threatening behavior now reside at 2127 Bergamot, it does not appear they got the message that parking is not permitted in the motor courts given the incident in the picture that follows in which the same woman who may have once blocked my garage is now blocking another neighbor’s ingress.
08/06/25 circa 5:20PM - 2127 Bergamot homeowner parked in front of her property
and blocking neighbors' ingress into their garage.
I’m going to go off on a slight tangent to state that we have asked Mr. Estrada on several occasions why Meritage Sales and After-Sales Customer Service fail to communicate to new homeowners that parking in the motor courts is not permitted. His reply has always been 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, as part of its hand-off, Meritage Sales offered information regarding the community's parking rules- not even when we inquired about parking ahead of our own move. Per our recollection, a Meritage Sales agent informed us that we could park our moving containers in the motor court as long as we did not leave them there overnight - that is, before she was corrected by her boss who instructed us to park our moving containers on the street- but there was never any mention regarding the rule that parking is not permitted in the motor courts. 😕
Inconsistent Information Provided By Meritage Sales
in Response to Our Request for Move-In Instructions Given Motor Court
Shortly after receiving Meritage Sales’ phone call and the HOA’s Cease & Desist letter, I filed a grievance with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and received the following bologna response which circumvents my request for evidence of Meritage Sales' allegations and effectively confirms that there has been no such harassment or threatening behavior. Meritage willfully and malicious undermines my character in an obvious attempt to distort the narrative as it relates to my requests for HOA enforcement of community violations and deflect from the fact that the Meritage-controlled HOA has been negligent in its enforcement of the CC&RS.
I'd like to reiterate that we find it incredible that no one - including the author of Meritage's BBB response (per below) - appeared to be aware that the No Parking signs Meritage boasted about installing for the community were non-conforming per the Vehicle Code and Davis-Sterling Act. As such, I dare say that what we're dealing with is an extraordinary level of incompetence and negligence across the organizations that is not limited to the Meritage-led HOA Board and Keystone.
Meritage Homes' Response to My BBB Complaint
MANIPULATON IS WHEN SOMEONE IGNORES THEIR OWN DISRESPECTFUL BEHAVIOR,
BUT BLAMES YOU FOR HOW YOU REACTED TO IT.
I have no expectation that Management 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 my community nor 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 or threatening behavior. Likewise, asking that Keystone "Do its job!" is not tantamount to harassment or threatening behavior.
Definition of “Harassment” per CA Law (Code Civ. Proc. §527.6)
“unlawful violence, a credible threat of violence, or a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses the person, and that serves no legitimate purpose. The course of conduct must be that which would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and must actually cause substantial emotional distress to the petitioner.”
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 its dealings with customers who voice dissatisfaction or are, otherwise, at odds with the developer. 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 given a tone of frustration.
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