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Originally Posted by DON10E
I read this story and it’s been bothering me all day. Her husband was military till he died and she needs help to bring her house up to standards. She seems like a great candidate for a Go Fund me page but I have no experience with that. Do you? Any ideas? There but for the Grace of God...Merry Christmas?
A Villager is claiming her loss of supplemental income is making upkeep at her home too expensive for her to afford.
The home of Ingrid Rickard at 16558 SE 77th Northridge Court in the Village of Calumet Grove was the subject of a public hearing Friday before the Community Development District 4 Board of Supervisors.
A complaint about missing lanai screens and weeds was lodged against her property Oct. 13 with Community Standards. The violation was verified the following day.
Rickard’s husband, a retired Air Force colonel, died in 2012. They moved to The Villages in 2003. The house in Calumet Grove was built in 2004 and they were its first and only occupants.
In the years since her husband’s death, Rickard has fallen on hard times.
She said her supplemental income from retirement has been depleted
“I have no other way of making any money,” the 76-year-old told the CDD 4 board.
She had to trim back on her landscaping budget to save money and friends from her church have been helping her pull weeds.
On Tuesday, she signed an agreement with a contractor who can replace the screens in her lanai. But the contractor is “backed up” and can’t get to her job for 12 to 14 weeks.
Rickard said she understood she could be fined if the work isn’t performed in a timely manner.
“I had to borrow money to have the screens replaced. I cannot afford a daily fine,” she said.
Supervisor Don Deakin urged Rickard to get other competitive bids and potentially use them to spur her chosen contractor to move up the job on his priority list.
CDD 4 Board Chairman Jim Murphy reminded Rickard that she has a responsibility to “keep up the property.”
By a unanimous vote of the board, she was given 45 days to bring the property into compliance. If she fails to do so, she will face an initial $150 fine followed by $50 daily fines.
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Sound like a reverse mortgage is what would really help her. She would be able to have funds in a line of credit where she could draw monthly income.
This is exactly why reverse mortgages help some.