CAMARILLO : Daughter Ordered to Move From House

A 23-year-old woman must move out of her parents’ Camarillo home because the homeowners association changed its rules and barred anyone under age 55 from living in the Morning Star Canyon development.

Under a settlement signed by Superior Court Judge Robert Aldrich on Wednesday, Kristen Crongeyer must move out by July 15.

The Springs Homeowner’s Assn. went to court to force the woman to leave the development.

“These people are wrong and I’d love to show them that in court,” said Ralph Crongeyer, Kristen’s father. “But, unfortunately, fighting them is expensive, and they’ve got more money than I do.”

The family will move out of state before the July deadline because of a job transfer, he said.

Bill Supri, president of the Springs Homeowner’s Assn., declined to comment Friday. The group’s attorney was unavailable for comment.

Ralph Crongeyer said that when the family moved into their house in 1987, the association rules required that one spouse be at least 52, the other at least 35 and they did not allow children under 18. At that time, Kristen was 19.

Later that year, the association voted to change the rules so that all residents had to be 55 or over, Crongeyer said. Although he was 52 and his wife 47, they were allowed to stay in the tract under a grandfather clause. But the association did not allow Kristen to stay.

“I agree that there are times that there should be age restrictions and I have no problems with that--as long as I know about it up front,” Crongeyer said. “All of a sudden they changed their minds. If we had known about that from the start, we would have never moved in.”

Ted Herzberg, district administrator of the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Department, said a homeowners association can change residency rules even if existing residents are affected.

“If there are enough people in a complex who want to change the rules, they can vote for it and that’s what the rest of the group has to follow,” he said.

In the Morning Star Canyon development, houses are privately owned and residents pay the association for upkeep of a recreation area, swimming pool and common grounds.

The Crongeyers also filed a complaint with the Fair Employment and Housing Department in December, 1988, claiming that the revised rules violated a federal ban on age discrimination. The complaint was dismissed a little over a year later due to insufficient evidence that any laws were broken, Herzberg said.