Homeowners protest Pardee
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn Newspapers NOT HAPPY- Homeowners in the Moorpark Highlands development protest Pardee Homes' proposal to eliminate assessments on future homebuyers. The residents say the change will divide the community, but the developer wants to stay competitive in the housing market.

The neighborly spirit in Moorpark Highlands was apparent as residents rallied to fight a perceived injustice last weekend.

More than two dozen families gathered near the Pardee Homes sales office on Saturday morning to protest the developer's proposal to waive a hefty assessment for future homebuyers. The waiver would give new residents an unfair advantage over current owners when it comes time to sell a home, said those who've already purchased homes in the community and paid the assessment.

To invite more home sales in an ever-softening market, Pardee Homes said it will discontinue charging new buyers any Mello-Roos assessments, but the developer will not retroactively subtract the charges for buyers who've already purchased homes.

The Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act was created in 1982 to provide an alternate method to Proposition 13 for financing for community facilities and services. Proposition 13 limits the ability of local public agencies to raise property taxes based on a property's assessed value.

"The Southern California market has turned, so we need to take a proactive approach to stay competitive," said James Bizzelle, vice president of community development for Pardee Homes.

"I truly understand and sympathize with out homeowners, but we as a company need to respond to a changing market," he said.

Although existing homeowners would like to make changes to the Mello-Roos clauses that were operational last year, right now there are no exceptions, Bizzelle said.

Pardee negotiated with each homeowner several times, and many who closed by the end of last year got incentives because the market was already changing.

"Pardee was already doing deals," Bizzelle said.

The residents got a five-year subsidy on the MelloRoos assessment and also received upgrades, vouchers for design centers and backyard incentives, he said.

The developer began selling homes in the development in January last year and the first closing occurred in August.

"The community facilities district assessment was fully disclosed to all our buyers," Bizzelle said.

But the residents still feel cheated.

If Pardee offers new homebuyers in the same community a permanent Mello-Roos waiver while current homeowners still have to pay the fee for years to come, then the developer is unethical, they said in a letter to Pardee.

The Moorpark Highlands residents are not opposed to Mello-Roos, and they said they are well aware they bought into a community that carries the assessment. But the property values for newcomers who don't have to carry the costly assessment will be higher, the residents said.

"They (Pardee Homes) said they are building communities, but it's hypocritical," said Linda Fisher, who purchased a home in the Moorpark Highlands in September. Fisher owns Fifth Avenue Dry Cleaners in Moorpark.

Rusty and Ann Colemon, who haven't even moved into their new home, feel they were deceived into buying early and will now be forced to pay the assessment while new buyers who close this year won't.

The Colemons and others who already live in the new community picketed to discourage new buyers from trusting the developer and to encourage Pardee to rethink the strategy.

About 30 percent of the homes in the Highlands development are affected by the MelloRoos assessment, said resident Steve Standage.

"This is the third major problem and change," said Ron Howard, also a Highlands resident.

First-time homebuyers Justin and Sandee Engelbrecht, who closed escrow on Dec. 29, felt they were drawn into a bad situation. Pardee's perks won't make up for the immediate loss of equity, they said.

The Colemons are particularly upset because Pardee enticed them to close escrow last month even before their house was finished.

Pardee was friendly and they offered some upgrades, according to the Colemons. The company is paying the couple's mortgage until the house is complete, but had they known about the impending waiver, the Colemons said, they would have waited.

"Now I feel I've just been deceived because they could have disclosed the waiver to me," said Ann Colemon, who feels entitled to a complete Mello-Roos waiver since her house is not ready for move-in yet.

The Colemons met with Bizzelle seeking recourse. "He wouldn't make any commitment and asked us to tell our story in writing," Ann said.

Everyone else who was protesting is already living in their house, she said.

Once it goes into effect five years from now, the Mello-Roos assessment will cost $5,742 per year for residents who moved into the larger Shenandoah homes, according to Bizzelle. If the residents stay in their homes for the next 32 years, they can expect to spend about $184,000 for the extra assessment. The Mello-Roos bonds are due in 2038.

A homeowner could have chosen to pay off the bond when the house was purchased, which would have reduced the assessment cost to about $78,000, Bizzelle said.

Aside from their mortgage and the Mello-Roos expenses, residents in the Moorpark Highlands will also pay homeowner association and landscape maintenance fees.

The development is slated to include condominiums and larger estates, but the building schedule for those units is uncertain, given the market trend.