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Lawsuit: Developer ruined our neighborhood

By Peter Rice
Friday, December 22, 2006

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They were expecting an idyllic suburban community with neighbors putting down roots, growing desert gardens and keeping peace and quiet in line with neighborhood rules.

But after moving into the Sundoro South subdivision on Albuquerque's far West Side last summer, Ben and Christine Brooks say they have found the opposite situation.

And they are blaming their home builder.

In a lawsuit, the Brookses and a neighbor say the developer promised to sell no more than 10 percent of their neighborhood's homes to investors.

The company broke its promise by selling upward of 50 percent of the homes to investors, primarily from out of state, the lawsuit states.

So far, the Brookses say, that broken promise has translated into empty houses, lots of rentals, sinking property values and a generally transient and crime-ridden community in their neighborhood near the intersection of 98th Street and Ladera Drive Northwest.

"This could have been a great place to be," Christine Brooks said, looking at a four-inch stack of "for rent" and "for sale" notices for neighboring homes on her table.

Instead, "From my garage backwards we're just like prisoners."

Loud parties keep them up at night, they say. Cars are parked on sidewalks and in front of driveways. And at one time, someone left a pile of vomit in a rental's driveway.

Homes in their neighborhood, selling for between $183,000 and $275,000, are losing value, they say.

The Brookses place the blame for these quality-of-life issues squarely on the renters living in investors' homes.

John Eberle, the director of corporate marketing for RayLee Homes, said he couldn't comment on the situation because of the pending litigation. Officials from Westland Development Co., which sold the land to RayLee Homes, didn't return a phone call seeking comment. Neither did officials with Canyon Gate Real Estate services, the company in charge of enforcing the neighborhood covenants.

The lawsuit was filed in November in state District Court in Albuquerque, but the Brookses and co-plaintiff Theresa Caccamise aren't sitting by idly.

They have reached out to City Councilor Ken Sanchez and area police Capt. Conrad Candelaria.

At a community meeting last week, Sanchez, who lives in the same subdivision but whose house was built by a different company, said he's considering pushing for a change in city ordinances to regulate how homes are sold to outside investors.

"I think that we need to hold the home builders responsible," he said.

Meanwhile, Sanchez encouraged concerned citizen patrols, where average citizens would make the rounds on the streets and work with police to address any problems they might find.

It's a grass-roots move Candelaria said could help curb crime in the area.

"We cannot be in every single street," he said. But "If (criminals) know there is a witness nearby, they're less likely to commit the criminal act."

Gerald Worral, president of the neighboring Tres Volcanes Neighborhood Association, said he'd be receptive to expanding his group to include the Brooks' area in the southern portion of the subdivision, which currently isn't represented by a group.

"We're very concerned about being in a stable neighborhood," Ben Brooks said.

He and his wife want out of their contract with RayLee Homes and are also seeking punitive damages in their lawsuit.

"Something needs to be done about this," Christine Brooks said.