Residents Picket Developer Over Rebates : Protest: Home buyers in exclusive Coto de Caza neighborhood who closed escrow on time are up in arms over special deal given to some late closers as an incentive.

This remote and exclusive gated community seems an unlikely spot for a demonstration, but a handful of residents picketed Saturday in front of a sales office and plan to return today.

Thomas and Linda Brechtel, who organized the protest with several of their neighbors, are angry because they say developer A-M Homes has treated them unfairly.

When the Brechtels bought their two-story dream house with a view of a golf course, they played by the rules and tried to close escrow on time.

But now they and some of their neighbors in the Hillsboro section of Coto de Caza say A-M Homes has changed the rules and is offering rebates to buyers who did not close escrow as quickly.

The rebates apparently are being offered to hold on to the buyers with late-closing escrows because of the recent downturn in the real estate market, which has driven housing prices lower.

Ironically, A-M published a feature article about the Brechtels in a newspaper advertising supplement in November after the Brechtels became the first family to move into the tract. Now, the story the Brechtels tell is not so flattering to A-M.

“What’s aggravating is that all of us bought at the same time and we’re being penalized because we closed when we were supposed to close,” Linda Brechtel said.

“It’s a crime when you’re waiting in line to buy a house with the same people who are now getting a rebate for buying, and you’re not,” said Thomas Brechtel, who is himself a home builder.

In fact, the Brechtels say they were pressured by A-M Homes to close escrow as scheduled. On Sept. 13 they received a mailgram saying that the sale would be cancelled if escrow had not closed by Sept. 20.

However, instead of canceling sales of those who did not close escrow until several weeks later, A-M offered rebates of up to $40,000, the Brechtels said.

Martin Messinger, who lives down the street from the Brechtels, says he received a $10,000 incentive to close escrow. David Dalzotto, another neighbor, said he received a $7,500 incentive.

Homes in the development go for $450,000 to $550,000.

The Brechtels and a handful of their neighbors picketed in front of the Hillsboro sales office Saturday, carrying signs that read “A-M has betrayed us” and “Please treat us all the same.”

The Brechtels and their neighbors, who plan to hold a “picket picnic” today with up to 30 people, say they would like credits on their homes.

“They should just come up with one amount or not give any incentives,” Linda Brechtel said.

“We’re all intelligent people. We recognize they will be making concessions because of changes in the market,” said Alfred DeVault, a mortgage loan broker. But it is not fair to give incentives for people who purchased homes at the same time he did, he said. Added his wife, Jennifer: “We closed on time. If we had known about the incentives, we would have held up our escrow.”

A-M Homes sales representative Larry Pearson, at the picket site, would not comment, and a spokesman for the developer could not be reached Saturday.

But in a letter dated Nov. 30, Thomas I. Hover, president of A-M Homes Southern California region, told the Brechtels, the DeVaults and two other couples: “It is true that we have recently begun offering incentives on some of our remaining unsold units at our Coto de Caza project.”

The incentives, Hover said, were in response to the recent downturn in Southern California’s real estate market.

“A-M Homes is in no position and under no legal obligation to rebate or refund any of the purchase price that you paid for your home,” Hover said.

In the A-M advertisement last month featuring the Brechtels, Linda Brechtel--owner of Design Tech Interiors, a Mission Viejo design firm--praised the family’s new home, which she has decorated with pale lilac carpeting and French limestone.

“I gave them such a boost and now this is what they give us,” she said.

A-M, with headquarters in Santa Barbara and offices in Newport Beach and Los Gatos, was recently named the fastest-growing home builder in the nation by Builder magazine. The company is 81% owned by Jennings Industries Ltd., Australia’s largest home builder.