Tensions ran high on Wednesday at a community meeting in Maricopa’s Province neighborhood, where residents voiced deep frustration over developer Meritage Homes’s decision to exit the homeowners association as soon as it is done constructing its final homes.

The exit is expected before year’s end. Meritage is leaving the 55+ community without completing long-requested repairs, despite years of collecting the highest HOA dues in Maricopa, say residents. 

The meeting, held in a packed clubhouse, served as a forum to vent that frustration.  Residents took turns raising concerns about deteriorating roads, broken sidewalks, poor irrigation and what many described as a total lack of accountability from Meritage and the current HOA management. 

“By the time Meritage gets out of here and that work hasn’t been done, good luck getting them to come back. It’ll never happen,” one resident said, referencing ongoing sidewalk damage. “We’re fighting deniability and for accountability.” 

Another resident pointed to repeated failures to resolve a persistent irrigation issue.  

“If I had a dollar for every time my husband has put in a work order over the last three years,” she said rhetorically, adding that Province management “came out and flagged it every week for three years.”

Province is preparing for a transition from developer control to a resident-led HOA board, expected early next year. But many fear Meritage is stepping away just as large, costly repairs are about to come due. 

“We are going to have this conversation about how many roofs need to be repaired and how much they cost,” one community member said at the private meeting, where InMaricopa was allowed to attend but not take photographs. “And you don’t have a lot of bucks.” 

To prepare for the handoff, the community brought in D.J. Vlaming of Association Reserves to present findings from the most recent reserve study, a financial analysis of how well the HOA is funded for future repairs. According to Vlaming, the master association’s reserves were only halfway funded at the start of 2024, while a separate section of homes, known as the Villas, was just 35% funded. 

Standing before a room full of concerned residents, Vlaming did his best to field tough questions on the reserve study, an estimate of how much maintenance and repairs will cost, and how it balances with the community’s financial standing. Some of his answers only deepened the residents’ unease, particularly his admission that no specialized testing was done on critical infrastructure such as roads.

“We don’t actually do testing on roads,” he said. “We are not asphalt experts. We’re not core sampling.” 

Residents expressed frustration that maintenance has been deferred for years while Meritage collected dues.  

“Someday, hopefully not real soon, but someday we’re going to have the big rain,” one person warned, referring to storm damage to the aging infrastructure. 

Several residents called for hiring independent experts to evaluate key assets like roads, pools and ponds, many of which date back to the community’s start in the early aughts.  

“Back then, we were prepared. Now, we’re not.” 

Toward the end of the meeting, a small group of residents gathered in a back corner of the room to begin organizing. Their goal: to compile a “to-do” list of unfinished repairs they believe Meritage must complete before stepping away. 

To bring attention to unresolved issues and build transparency, the group of retirees is launching its own survey effort and planning a “golf cart parade” to document infrastructure damage throughout the community. They’re organizing over email and Facebook.  

Still, many attendees voiced skepticism that any of it would lead to results. 

“Anybody want to put me money down?” one woman asked about whether the sidewalks would get fixed. “Of course not.” 

But others said that speaking up is the only path forward. 

“If we have to be a thorn in someone’s side,” said one resident, “we’ll be a thorn in someone’s side.” 

Meritage Homes did not attend the meeting and has not responded to multiple requests for comment from InMaricopa.