I assume you have never lived in a deed restricted community. Selective enforcement refers to when the enforcement arm of the deed restrictions does not apply the deed restrictions uniformly and can be the legal basis for a homeowner not having to comply with a violation that others have not been previously forced to comply with. Reporting of infractions, and this is important, can be from a complaint driven system or can be monitored by the enforcement arm itself. In The Villages, it is complaint driven and I believe this effectively removes any possibility of selective enforcement (as long as the complaints are investigated and violations are uniformly dealt with). Otherwise, it would take a large organization to continually monitor The Villages' homes for any and all infractions and anything they miss could be the basis for a legal claim of selective enforcement. In The Villages, I have never heard of a claim of selective enforcement and I believe the reason for this is the fact that the enforcement arm (Community Standards) is not responsible for reporting. This was, in my opinion, a very wise decision.
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Originally Posted by Jazuela
There already IS selective enforcement. Infractions of violations are ONLY enforced if someone complains. So you can have a peeing dog statue on your lawn for 20 years, while your next door neighbor gets infracted when his landscaper misses a square foot of grass that grows to 5 inches instead of the maximum 4 inches allowed, because that square foot is around the flagpole that the guy down the street doesn't like.
Community standards will go to check out the flagpole, and measure the grass, and say "oh yes indeedy, you are a violator alright, shame on you!" and walk right past that peeing dog statue next door on the way back to their golf cart, smile at the statue, and drive on. Because no one reported a complaint against it.
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