ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final

25F-H089-REL · Department of Real Estate - H/C · 2026-04-27

IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

In the Matter of:

Yin Macatabas,

Petitioner,

Tapestry on Central Condominium Association,

Respondent.

No. 25F-H089-REL

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE DECISION

HEARING: April 2, 2026 at 1:00PM and April 7, 2026 at 10:30AM

APPEARANCES: Petitioner Yin Macatabas appeared on her own behalf. Attorneys Monya Cohen and Allison Preston represented Respondent Tapestry on Central Condominium Association with witnesses Kara Tretbar and Candess Hunter.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Nicole Robinson

EXHIBITS ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE: Arizona Department of Real Estate Notice of Hearing Packet (“Packet”). Petitioner’s Exhibits A through C and F through I. Respondent Exhibit 1.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Background and Procedure

The Arizona Department of Real Estate (“Department”) is authorized by statute to receive and to decide petitions for hearings from members of homeowners’ associations and from homeowners’ associations in Arizona.

On September 3, 2025, Yin Macatabas (“Petitioner”) filed a one issue petition with the Department which alleged that Tapestry on Central Condominium Association (“Respondent” or “Association”) violated Arizona Revised Statutes (Ariz. Rev. Stat.) § 33-1258.

The relief requested by Petitioner, other than ordering Respondent to pay to Petitioner the filing fee required by Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-2199.01 if Petitioner prevailed, included the following, to order Respondent to abide by the Arizona statute specified in the complaint section.

On October 27, 2025, the Department sent a Homeowner’s Association (“HOA”) Notice of Petition to Respondent which informed Respondent of the petition initiated against it. In addition, the petition informed Respondent to send a timely response to the Department and to Petitioner no later than November 21, 2025.

On or about November 17, 2025, Respondent returned its Answer to the Department whereby it denied Petitioner’s claims.

On or about November 24, 2025, the Department referred this matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings (“OAH”), an independent state agency, for an evidentiary hearing to address the issues set forth as follows:

The Petitioner’s allegation within the petition states, “On July 30, 2025, I requested copies of all competitive bids/proposals and related documents supporting the July 2025 $3.5M special assessment, and the Association failed to provide the copies by August 13, 2025” in violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1258.

The Parties and Governing Documents

Respondent is a condominium/community association whose members own properties in the Tapestry on Central residential real estate development located in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. The community consisted of 292 units and was managed by First Service Residential.

Petitioner purchased her condo unit A123 in the Summer of 2023 and is a property owner and a member of the Association. Petitioner stopped living at her condo at Tapestry on Central in October 2025 and currently lives at one of her other properties.

In this matter, the governing authority is Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1258 which provides, in pertinent part, the following:

A. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, all financial and other records of the association shall be made reasonably available for examination by any member or any person designated by the member in writing as the member's representative. The association shall not charge a member or any person designated by the member in writing for making material available for review. The association shall have ten business days to fulfill a request for examination. On request for purchase of copies of records by any member or any person designated by the member in writing as the member's representative, the association shall have ten business days to provide copies of the requested records. An association may charge a fee for making copies of not more than fifteen cents per page.

B. Books and records kept by or on behalf of the association and the board may be withheld from disclosure to the extent that the portion withheld relates to any of the following:

1. Privileged communication between an attorney for the association and the association.

2. Pending litigation.

3. Meeting minutes or other records of a session of a board meeting that is not required to be open to all members pursuant to section 33-1248.

4. Personal, health or financial records of an individual member of the association, an individual employee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor for the association, including records of the association directly related to the personal, health or financial information about an individual member of the association, an individual employee of the association or an individual employee of a contractor for the association.

hearing evidence

Petitioner testified on her own behalf. Respondent presented the testimony of Kara Tretbar, the prior General Manager with First Service Residential; and Candess Hunter, President of the Association’s Board of Directors. Administrative notice was taken of the Department’s electronic file and Notice of Hearing. The substantive evidence of record was as follows:

The Association considered instituting special assessments that totaled $3.5 million dollars with $1.2 million going to the reserve account.

The Association mailed out to all homeowners a special assessment justification packet.

The Association held bi-monthly meetings from January 2025 through July 2025, in regards to the proposed assessments. The meetings included board meetings and town hall style meetings to discuss the assessments and where potential vendors for the elevator and garage repairs presented.

Petitioner did not attend any of these special assessment meetings.

A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) reserve study was conducted. No bids were received for HVAC systems.

On July 28, 2025, the Association Board sent out a communication email to all owners providing a status update for the special assessment vote.

On July 30, 2025, a special assessment meeting was held and Petitioner attended and spoke at this meeting. Also, during the meeting representatives for the Association, informed Petitioner that all documents related to the special assessment, including elevator bids, were available through the Association’s online owner portal.

Petitioner had access to the Association’s owner portal.

On July 30, 2025 at 3:44PM, Petitioner sent a records request to the Association, requesting the following documents:

Full CC&Rs and Bylaws;

Special Assessment justification packet;

All contractor bids or vendor proposals for the elevator, lobby, hallway, and HVAC projects;

Detailed financial breakdowns used to justify the $3.5 million special assessment amount; and

Meeting minutes and records of votes taken by the Board related to the assessment.

At the time of the Petitioner’s request, the Association did not have lobby bids or HVAC bids.

On August 8, 2025, Ms. Tretbar put together the documents for Petitioner with the assistance of the General Manager. Included in the packet were the CC&Rs, Bylaws, copy of emails, elevator bids, minutes, and special assessment justification packet.

Ms. Tretbar expected Petitioner to pick up the prepared document packet from the front office at Tapestry on Central.

Around 4:30PM, Ms. Tretbar could no longer wait for Petitioner to pick up the documents. Ms. Hunter suggested Ms. Tretbar hand deliver the document packet to Petitioner’s door.

Ms. Tretbar went to Petitioner’s unit and hand delivered the document packet.

Petitioner was not home.

Ms. Tretbar left the document packet at Petitioner’s front door.

On September 3, 2025, Petitioner filed an HOA Petition with the Department.

Closing Arguments

Petitioner’s Closing Argument

In closing, Petitioner argued that she did not receive the elevator bids and the Respondent failed to provide an audit trail or delivery log as to how this part of the request was provided to her. Petitioner argued that the Tribunal should focus on proof not narrative. Petitioner further concluded that the Tribunal should hold that the Respondent did not provide the requested records to her in the manner the Association stated nor were they not made available to her.

Respondent’s Closing Argument

In closing, Respondent contended within hours after Petitioner’s record request the Association verbally informed her that all the requested documents and elevator bids were available on the portal. Respondent argued that Petitioner’s claim was unsupported by the facts and was premised on speculation regarding the existence of additional documents. Respondent argued that the Association fully complied with its statutory obligations by timely producing all records responsive to Petitioner’s request and making such records reasonably available on the Association portal which Petitioner was able to access. Respondent concluded that Petitioner’s petition be denied in its entirety.

Conclusions of Law

The Department’s jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 32-2102 and 32-2199 et seq., regarding a dispute between an owner and a condominium/community association. The owner or association may petition the department for a hearing concerning violations of community documents or violations of the statutes that regulate planned communities as long as the petitioner has filed a petition with the department and paid a filing fee as outlined in Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-2199.05.

Pursuant to Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 32-2199(2), 32-2199.01(A), 32-2199.01(D), 32-2199.02, and 41-1092 et seq., OAH has the authority to hear and decide the contested case at bar. OAH has the authority to interpret the contract between the parties.

In this proceeding, Petitioner bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that Respondent violated the aforementioned Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1258.

A preponderance of the evidence means “proof which leads the [trier of fact] to find that the existence of the contested fact is more probable than its nonexistence.”

Condominium Associations are regulated by Ariz. Rev. Stat. Title 33, Chapter 9, Article 3. In pertinent part, Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1242(A) provides as follows:

In this case, the credible weight of the evidence established that Respondent made the requested documents reasonably available to Petitioner for examination. Petitioner had access to the owner portal whereby all of the requested documents resided. In addition, Respondent provided all of the requested documents via copies and hand delivered the packet to Petitioner’s home. Although Petitioner argued that she did not receive the packet at her condo unit, the requested documents were available via the owner portal. Furthermore, Petitioner requested documents for the lobby, hallway, and HVAC projects, however, those bids/proposals did not exist at the time of the request, and as such, cannot be produced by the Association.

Therefore, the undersigned Administrative Law Judge concludes that, because Petitioner failed to meet her burden of proof that Respondent committed the alleged violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1258, her petition must be denied.

ORDER

Based on the foregoing,

It is Ordered that Petitioner’s petition be DENIED.

It is Further Ordered pursuant to ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 32-2199.02(A), Respondent shall not reimburse Petitioner’s filing fee as required by Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 32-199.01.

In the event of certification of the Administrative Law Judge Decision by the Director of the Office of Administrative Hearings, the effective date of the Order will be forty (40) days from the date of that certification.

-54864001

001

-137160-45720000Done this day, April 27, 2026.

/s/ Nicole Robinson

Administrative Law Judge

Transmitted by either mail, e-mail, or facsimile to:

Susan Nicolson, Commissioner

Arizona Department of Real Estate

100 N. 15th Avenue, Suite 201

Phoenix, Arizona 85007

[email redacted]

Yin Macatabas

17 W Vernan Ave Unit A-123

Phoenix, AZ 85003

[email redacted]

Allison Preston

Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP

1400 E. Southern Avenue, Ste. 400

Tempe, Arizona 85282

[email redacted]

By: OAH Staff