Another significant basis for our complaint which we are now in the process of working on with the Arizona Dept of Real Estate using this complaint form involves myself (and I assume other Monterey buyers too) thinking Sandalo in Scottsdale were really Townhomes because of their heavy promotions and signage saying they were in-fact (generally more appealing to the public) Townhomes when they are in actuality Condominiums according to the builders documentation.

The fact we have a dog and obviously needed a front or back yard as you often get with real townhomes (but with a condo you typically do not have a yard, instead only have so called common areas) was one more negative factor involving the first purchase. The advertising by Monterey promoting the development as townhomes was an important reason we looked at them in the first place. In they were referred to as condominiums we may not have considered them, and thus never entered into a purchase contract and consequently lose $20,000.

As just mentioned, if it were not for the original Monterey marketing of the units as townhomes we may not have gone to the Monterey Scottsdale sales office. The major difference between townhouse and condominium is with a townhome the land under the building (often a small yard too) is owned by the home-owner, whereas with condominium ownership the condo-owner does not own the land.

It's interesting to note (according to our limited research) the developer allegedly submitted development plans to the City of Scottsdale based on them being Townhomes. However, the Monterey supplied documentation (and legal documents used by First American Title Company at close of escrow) say they are in fact Condominiums and not Townhomes, as they were heavily promoted by Monterey.

We are not sure what impact resulted from the city considering the project to be townhomes at the time of zoning hearings, zoning approval and building permits but somehow the Sandalo development became a condominium project somewhere along the way in the process. With that said, we can say townhomes generally speaking have a better image with the public and are also more desirable from a marketing standpoint vs only owning air rights with condos!

A common and widely used definition used by many Realtors® (also taught in Real Estate Schools) which distinguishes a townhome compared to a condo is in the land ownership, whereas the land under (and near the unit, back yard or front) is often owned by the homeowner vs considered common areas owned by the HOA, as is usually the case with condos.

Please go to our difference between townhome and condo web-page to read about the major differences. There is a significant difference involving the land in particular. It is also considered easier to market and promote a townhome vs a condo. That is allegedly a major reason the for sale signs refer to the units as townhomes.

The alleged consumer misleading townhome signs were called to the attention of a Meritage Homes Corporation Attorney Mr. Austin Woffinden during a lengthy phone call regarding the new purchase plans in October 2007, However, Mr Woffinden apparently did little or nothing about the incorrect signs as they were still on display saying "townhomes" during all of November and December 2007. As recently as Jan 2008 the oustside signage still said Sandalo Townhomes.

Note, the Monterey/Meritage Homes attorney Austin Woffinden, is also one of the 3-individuals/employees who told us Monterey Homes and Meritage Homes Corporation have a policy of returning kept earnest money deposits if the customer ends-up buying within 6-months. In fact, one of them (Dan Nichols) stated in a meeting with Bridget and I it was actually a full one-year earnest money rebate time length. The many promises by Meritage Homes attorney Austin Woffinden and licensed Realtors® Gale Richardson and Dan Nichols to give the funds back upon closing turned out to be worthless, unfortunately.

The allegedly twisted by Monterey townhome vs condominium aspect was also one of several factors taken into consideration with our original cancellation in Sept 07, which negative we nevertheless later (reluctantly) decided to live with as a result of considerable pressure to buy anyway due to changed circumstances (including a strong desire to get our confiscated $20,000 earnest money credited back) when we later tried to unsuccessfully repurchase Unit 1004, what with Monterey reneging on the new purchase agreement terms they had outlined quite concisely only 2-days prior.

We have a set of photos taken in Oct 07 of six (we actually have many more photos as evidence) of the many for-sale signs posted all around that area of Scottsdale by Monterey Homes. Note the extensive use of the Townhome designation when they are in actuality Condominiums as stated in the Monterey written documentation. That marketing is allegedly done by Monterey Homes to make the Sandalo development seem more appealing to the public since townhomes have a better connotation and image vs condos.

That kind of marketing is allegedly false and misleading advertising! It's also interesting to note placing these signs on a public right of ways may also allegedly violate Section H of the Scottsdale City Code (unless Monterey Homes was granted a special permit, which would thus make that issue a moot point), especially Sign B, which for-sale signs (i.e. sign-b) were placed at numerous public, city-owned or private property locations within several miles of the Scottsdale condominium development for most of the year and all signs are still there during several recent signage tours of the area:  Sign A   Sign C   Sign D   Sign E

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