Meritage Homes (aka Monterey Homes) of Scottsdale, AZ. and Renroc Development LLC, owned by Rocco “Rockey” Piazza of Lakeway, TX. ousted the board of directors of the Bella Montagna Homeowners Association (HOA), Lakeway, TX in a recall election on July 28 2012.



Meritage and Renroc deposed the HOA board after it hired a forensic accountant to look into evidence of misappropriation of funds and financial mismanagement during the time Meritage and Renroc controlled the HOA. The recall also follows attempts by the board to collect more than $250,000 in delinquent fees and late charges and the developers’ refusal to complete construction of the community. The allegations are the basis for a suit filed by the board in the District Court of Travis County (TX) in May 2012.



By ousting the HOA board, Meritage and Renroc are now in a position to stop the work of the forensic accountant, halt efforts to collect delinquent fees, and have the lawsuit dismissed..



In an ironic twist, Meritage and Renroc used a recently enacted Texas law that allows homeowners who are delinquent in payment of their HOA fees to vote in HOA elections in order to protect their property rights.



“Meritage and Renroc have turned this new law on its head. They’ve used the ability of delinquent developers to vote in our HOA election to remove the owner board that tried to collect those fees and pursue claims of misappropriation of funds and financial malfeasance against them,” said John Oliveri, vice-president of the owner board and an attorney specializing in HOA-related law.



“The recall is nothing more than a blatant attempt to suppress the allegations against them and make the lawsuit quietly disappear by electing their hand selected nominees to the board of directors, ” he said.



The recall election is the latest move in a two-year battle between homeowners and developers in the community. In early 2011, Renroc abruptly disbanded the previous unelected board after homeowners questioned why Meritage and Renroc had never paid annual HOA fees and failed to hold any annual meetings as required under the governing documents of the HOA.



In June 2011, the homeowners elected their own board whereupon Meritage announced it would not complete development of the community and the homeowners would have to finish the community themselves.