TOP 09 MOTOR COURT PARKING VIOLATORS (Willow)
Our reports to Management regarding unpermitted motor court parking activity in the Willow community have been ignored by the HOA since April 2025 when we started submitting these after having our garage repeatedly blocked by vehicles belonging to prospective tenants, prospective buyers, new homeowners, and Meritage employees and vendors. As such, this year, in an attempt to both educate our neighbors and obtain a reprieve, we proceeded to enforce the CC&Rs against the Top 9 violators with the assistance of our attorneys. We started by issuing Cease & Desist letters, but a few homeowners refused to comply and actually defied the Cease & Desist, so we were forced to escalate with demands for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which is required by the governing documents for member-to-member disputes. It is astonishing to have discovered that anyone would forgo an opportunity to mediate, thereby willingly exposing themselves to a lawsuit. Alas, there are a handful of arrogant, entitled, and ignorant neighbors who have done so, and have, unwittingly, become a part of our impending lawsuit against the HOA.
I need to emphasize that this is not the outcome we anticipated- i.e., we never intended to hurt our fellow HOA-members. In fact, our reports will show that we have repeatedly begged that the Meritage-controlled HOA and management educate the community regarding the CC&Rs and Rules + Regulations. Our impending lawsuit was meant to be solely against the Meritage-controlled HOA for it's failure to enforce the CC&Rs and Rules + Regulations, but Meritage has allowed this to widen to include other members- specifically, those among the Top 9 motor court violators who declined to participate in ADR and/ or flat-out ignored our legal demand.
It is incredibly disappointing to find that we have gotten to the point of costly member-to-member enforcement of the CC&Rs because our Meritage-controlled board will, evidently, not do so, presumably, so as not to spook the community who might, in turn, voice concerns and dissatisfaction about the Live Oak development to potential buyers, thereby negatively impacting sales of the remaining properties. Had the HOA investigated our reports and reached out to, say, the Top 9 motor court parking violators to inform them that they were in violation of the CC&Rs, these homeowners would have received a Notice of Violation from the HOA and, hopefully, complied with the CC&Rs and it would have been the end of that matter without the need for a hearing and/ or $100 fine- much less any action on our part. Instead, the HOA dug-in its heels and refused to investigate our reports, educate the community, and provide enforcement of the governing document rules, so we were forced to do so directly against other members with the assistance of legal counsel. This, in turn, has raised the costs for these violators (from, say, a possible $100 fine) to legal fees that currently amount to a few thousand dollars and will likely increase to tens of thousands of dollars by the time the dispute is heard in court.
I'd like to believe that if I found myself in a similar situation, I would be asking myself why the HOA failed to contact me about a legitimate CC&R violation that another member reported several months prior and on more than one dozen occasions. I'd like to believe that I would be demanding answers from the HOA as to why it did not share legitimate complaints made against me... legitimate violation reports that went unaddressed and have now made me the subject of a lawsuit.
It has been frustrating to see that, in combination with a developer-controlled HOA board that has little interest in enforcing its own CC&Rs, a few households can cause so much trouble... and that, even after being informed of the CC&R rules that prohibit motor court parking, there are homeowners whose hubris prevents them for taking responsibility and following the rules. Over the past year, we have also made a surprising discovery regarding the sheer and utter level of ignorance most homeowners have regarding the CC&Rs and Rules + Regulations that govern life in an HOA.
For example, I asked one neighbor whether he had read his CC&Rs and he responded something to the effect of Does that have something to do with the HOA? Another resident - a tenant - responded that he had not had the opportunity to read the CC&Rs since his landlord had not yet provided these to him... but reassured me that his landlord had 5 days from the time at which the rental lease was executed to provide these to him. (I won't speak to this given the absurdity of the statement!) A few homeowners argued that because they pay their dues and property taxes, they have the right to do as they want with their home (which, to be clear, is incorrect when the home is part of an HOA). Recently, another homeowner foolishly argued that if the HOA is not enforcing (and issuing violation notices for) unpermitted motor court parking and garage usage for a minimum of 2 vehicles, then these must obviously not be violations (which is also incorrect!). Anyway, we can't decide which is worse - the hubris or ignorance. Ultimately, both lead to litigation and affect the entire community.
Our advice to our neighbors and fellow members is that you familiarize yourselves with the CC&Rs and Rules + Regulations (AKA, governing or project documents) by which you are legally bound. And, heads-up: the CC&Rs CANNOT be changed by amendments to the Rules + Regulations (as the Meritage-controlled board has attempted to do in connection to motor court parking to allow for 30-minute parking stints). The CC&Rs unambiguously address this in Section 16.14 (Conflict with Project Documents) which states that "If there is a conflict among or between the Project Documents, the provisions of this Declaration (i.e., CC&Rs) shall prevail; thereafter, priority shall be given to Project Documents in the following order: Articles, Bylaws, and Association Rules." (For further information about the hierarchy (order) of governing documents, check out my post titled HOA Hell).
Moreover, we urge folks to understand that, as members of the HOA, we have legal standing to bring a lawsuit, not only against the HOA, but also against other members to compel compliance with the CC&Rs... and this does not constitute harassment (as alleged by a certain member to our Property Manger, Taylor Casey Ramos, who, in turn, failed to clarify to this member that, in fact, pursuant to Section 10.2.1 of the CC&Rs, members have the right to enforce the CC&Rs against other members via a lawsuit- REGARDLESS OF MANAGEMENT'S KNOWLEDGE, CONSENT, SUPPORT, and/ or PERMISSION (which are irrelevant)- when a member chooses to do so because, as in this case, the HOA has not enforced its own rules despite the copious amounts of reports and evidence submitted to it over the course of almost one year).
It's imperative that I emphasize that, prior to enlisting the assistance of legal counsel, we tried for almost one year to get Meritage and Keystone to educate our community regarding the motor court parking rules (among others things) to no avail. The last time I counted, we had submitted +/- 100 reports and +/- 300 pieces of evidence for which we received NO RESPONSE from Management. Meritage Homes' attorneys undermine this year-long effort by calling it incessant; our argument is that this is a reflection of a Board that has failed to fulfill its fiduciary duty to enforce the community's governing documents.
In any event, as of early April 2026, our direct enforcement efforts have been a success as we have witnessed a significant (and almost complete!) decrease in the amount of unpermitted motor court parking activity in the Willow community. Unfortunately, given the Meritage-board's recent rule amendment, which was passed in an attempt to circumvent enforcement of the CC&Rs, we anticipate that the motor court activity will not only resume, but that it will be worse given the Meritage-board's 30-minute allowance (which, to be clear, is unenforceable as this operating rule contradicts the CC&Rs which clearly indicate that motor court parking is not permitted TEMPORARILY OR OTHERWISE).
UPDATE 03/25/26: The Board ignored our argument that an operating rule does not supersede the CC&Rs and passed a rule in an attempt to circumvent CC&R Section 4.28.2(b) which unambiguously states that parking in the motor courts is not allowed - temporarily or otherwise. We very much look forward to seeing how this dispute is resolved in court.
HOA Document Hierarchy: What Controls What?
In disputes or confusion, it’s essential to understand the HOA document hierarchy. Here’s the general order of authority in California:
1. State laws (e.g., Civil Code, Davis-Stirling Act)
2. CC&Rs
3. Articles of Incorporation
3. Bylaws
4. Operating Rules
Any rules and regulations created by the Board/ Management Company should align with the higher-level documents and applicable law. If not, they may be unenforceable.
Amending HOA Governing Documents
Governing documents aren’t static. Over time, they may need updates to reflect new legal requirements, community preferences, or remove outdated code references.
The amendment process varies depending on the document. For example: Amending CC&Rs often requires homeowner approval—commonly a supermajority vote, depending on the existing CC&Rs. Bylaws may require a membership vote, depending on the bylaws and applicable law. Operating rules can often be changed by the Board, but typically only after following notice and comment procedures in the Civil Code.
Source: LS Carlson Law
(https://lscarlsonlaw.com/articles/hoa-governing-documents-understanding-ccandrs-bylaws-and-rules)
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Rule Amendments Do Not Supersede CC&Rs and May Be Legally Challenged by Members |
(Photographic evidence and/ or copies of reports to Management available upon request)
1. 2080
2. 2161
3. 2060
4. 2112
5. 2171
6. 2056
7. 2054
8. 2062
9. 2041
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