Pardee Homes

My family and I started our commitment to Pardee January 2005, when we put ourselves on wait list. During the entire purchase process my husband and I asked Pardee Sales Reps and Mortgage Consultants if we could prepay the mello-roos and were specifically told no?. We were told that Pardees Highlands homes reflect the price of the mello-roos and they had to be $100,000 less than William Lyon who was approximately 2 miles away and this cost would be on our property tax bill. Depending on the square footage of the home on average a homeowner pays $5,300/year in addition to property taxes.

Two years later I find out that this was an option. When I asked the Pardees Director of Sales why I wasnt given this option she wrote, At the time you purchased your home in 2006, Pardee Homes (Pardee) was not promoting CFD prepayment in Moorpark Highlands because, for most owners of new homes, it is not feasible to make such a large payment at close of escrow on top of the cash down payment and other expenses typically incurred in connection with purchasing and moving into a new home.?

Who is Pardee to decide whether or not my family had the funds to prepay the mello-roos? Pardee sure didnt take into consideration whether or not my family had the funds when they presented upgrades to us. Perhaps its because Pardees bottom-line would benefit from upgrades and not prepaying the mello-roos. Either way the developer should disclose the information to all home buyers.

Newer home buyers have been given the option of prepaying the mellow roos. Since Pardee decided not to give my family this option it will now cost me thousands of dollars which I could have saved by paying it off or financing it into my loan - - and when I decide to sell my home I have to pass this costs onto the buyer and sell my home for a lower price.

Pardee advertised to Highland home buyers: 2 community pools, park, school and gated community. Two years later all we have is 1 community pool for approximately 300 residents and have been told that there is no need for a school because there is sufficient space in the current schools. While I understand the enrollment decline the mello-roos was created to fund the school site. So why should homeowners be stuck paying for something were not going to receive?

There are many dissatisfied home owners in the Highlands. From false advertising to non-disclosure, what is a home owner to do? People save their whole lives to purchase their dream home and Pardee shattered our dream!

Shoudn't I, the home buyer, decide on what is feasable? How can Pardee withhold information from buyers based on whether they feel something is too costly to disclose?

Pardee never had one concern for my financial welfare during the home upgrades process. In fact, they made sure I had access to pricing, examples and samples, as well as phone numbers for the flooring and upgrade departments.

Pardee's slogan is, The Way You Want To Live. From my experience this is a contradiction.

Because Pardee has decided where the importance of my home buying budget should be allocated I have been left with the stigma of mellow roos. The newer home buyers have been given the option of prepaying their mellow roos.

This becomes very important in two areas. First, thousands of dollars could have been saved by paying off the mellow roos. Second, in the event home buyers decide to sell their homes the seller has to pass these costs onto the buyer.

At this point my family and I live in a buiding by Pardee Homes, not a home from an honest and caring builder.

Do you know what is going on in your department in Ventura in regards to the Moorpark Highland project. Well for one thing I was told about the mello roo's and was not told about an ongoing extra tax for the landscape maintainence, this is an insult to our community, shy are we being double taxed? ...2nd. where is our promised park? ...it has been two years or longer?...3rd. where is our tot lot- that was promised? ...4th. where is our school...I hear now we paid for a mello roo tax for a school and now there won't be one for 10 to 15 years, all the while we paid a steep mello roo tax. And all Pardee can say is its the city not us!...shame on Pardee for rolling over and finding the easy excuse. I am a reeal estate agent here in Moorpark, and I have been doing my best to tell customers how I feel about Pardee builders, and the Moorpark Highland...STAY AWAY!!

took away our school!...not building our park...double taxing us with a mello roo and a landscape tax...took away our tot lot to build more homes, the security gate does not work and is not being fixed in over 6 months!

I purchased a new home in the Canyon Hills community of Lake Elsinore, CA. The builder is Pardee Homes. I was told that my house would be ready in mid June. I had my walk thru on 6/20/06. Steve, a Pardee customer service rep did my walk thru. He let me know that the Air Conditioner was broken. Only the fan was working but no cold air was coming through. His assessment was that the Coyle needed to be replaced. He said that it would be replaced that Saturday. I let him know that I had planned to paint that weekend. Steve called on Saturday and said that the part wasn't in and it wouldn't be replaced until Sunday morning. I did not receive a call on Sunday. I went to my house and it still wasn't done. I called that week and received no call back.

I received a call on Monday, July 3 from Brandon stating that Steel-T A/C said that they went by my house on Saturday July 1st and nobody was there. They said they made the appt with either me or my husband. First of all, I don't even have a husband nor does anybody answer my cell phone. Second of all, I would never have made an appointment for July 1st because I was in my best friend's wedding. The date had been set for about a year. I was upset and called Pardee and requested to speak to a manager. They put me in contact with Derek, Customer Service Manager. I let Derek know what was going on. I told him that I was getting the runaround from Pardee as well as Steel-TAC. I let him know that I had to postpone painting and my contractors. I was not able to live in my house because we were in a heat wave and it had been over 100 degrees every day.

I requested to be compensated for the extra costs that I was incurring with extra living expenses. He said that he needed to speak to his boss that can approve such a thing. He called me back and let me know that his boss approved $200 a day reimbursement for every day that the AC had been broken. He said they would just need the receipt of the hotel expense. I let him know that I had extended my rental agreement which was now at a daily rate since my lease ended. He said that was sufficient.

On July 8, Steel-T A/C finally came to the house. I think his name was John. He got there about 0830. He was there until about 2pm and had needed to call another tech to help. He said that it wasn't the coyle at all. He explained that my house has a new type of AC and that Pardee didn't have a 'real' tech look at it. He said Pardee didn't know what they were talking about. It seemed like there was alot of tension between them and Pardee. He said that the AC only needed more pressure. Before he left he said it was fixed. The AC was turned and there was cool air coming out. On July 11th my floor contractor came out because I told him the AC was fixed. The contractor said it was hot and the AC was not working. I went to the house after work and sure enough it was the same problem of no cold air coming out. Only the fan was working. I called Pardee on July 12th and let them know that it was still broken. I made an appt with Steel-T A/C for July 15th at 0830. I checked the door every 5 minutes and nobody showed up at 0830. Then there was a 'sorry we missed you' paper. They didn't even ring the door bell or wait.

No word from them yet and AC is still broken. I did talk to Derek on Monday, 8/28, he said that he heard about the AC and he would look into it. He also said that his boss John said that he needed my rental agreement and voided checks in order to give me my reimbursement. I have already made 2 mortgage payments, HOA payments, and utility payments without being able to live there or do much in the house. The house is over 100 degrees inside with many heat waves going on. I was also paying a daily rate of $220 per day to stay somewhere else.