Although I’m sorry for your situation, I have to say that, like many others here, I don’t think Pardee has done anything wrong. In my view, Pardee has simply decided to reduce the prices of their homes by about $75K (in today’s dollars). They could have done it in many different ways: simply reducing the list prices by $75K, or offering incentives worth the same amount, or offering to pay for Mello-Roos taxes, etc. $75K is $75K any way I look at it. You seem to feel otherwise. Would you have been more satisfied if they simply reduced the list prices by $75K?
Regarding the William Lyon example, they didn’t just do “the right thing”, they went well beyond that by giving previous buyers their money back. Should the market have gone up since Phase 1, I don’t believe they would have asked the previous buyers for more money, right?
I was in your shoes in 2005. I had signed up early for a Pardee development in San Diego, at a time when the interest lists were miles long. I was offered the “privilege” to buy a house, and even paid a $15K deposit to reserve it for 72 hours. When my 3 days were up, I politely declined to sign a contract, to the amazement of the sales team (they of course found another buyer down the list in the next 5 minutes). I could have very easily afforded the house, but I chose to walk out. You chose to stick with your purchase. I believe it’s only fair that we live with the consequences of the decisions we made.
