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Originally Posted by PennBF
I understand the IRS was not involved in either of the suits that were brought by the POA. Allegedly the first suit was to restore the contracts which were agreed to when the original property owners bought and which there was an attempt to cancel them and the second involved the lack of maintenance dollars set aside, (e.g.the Paradise CC, etc.). Not sure of the details on this. In both cases the POA prevailed in the courts and the property owners were the real winners. I agree with you, I do know understand why everyone does not belong to the POA since it is a basic organization without conflicts which represent the owners.
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The major class-action lawsuit ($40 million payment by the Developer) is summarized at
http://www.poa4us.org/ Click on the Lawsuit Settlement link.
The IRS was not involved, but it appears that there is one common issue in both that lawsuit and the IRS investigation-- the pricing by the Developer in selling amenity facilities and amenity contracts to the Villages Center District.
As to the question of why every doesn't belong to the POA, I think that there are four reasons:
While, in my view, everyone, as a matter of civic responsibility, should belong to and support the POA, the main reason that they don't is apathy. Public apathy exists in The Villages, like it does everywhere else. In fact there may be a bit more of it in The Villages since we all bought our houses there in hopes of a worry-free, fun-filled retirement. It is certainly a lot more pleasant to free-ride off the work of the POA--like the $40 million lawsuit settlement, which involved a tremendous amount of work by POA members, than it is to get involved. Most Villagers don't realize that without the $3 million/year being repaid to the Center District by the Developer under that settlement, the present level of amenities would not exist.
A second reason is that the traditionally acerbic tone of past articles in the POA Bulletin has turned some people off. A problem is that only people who are really passionate about an issue will take the time to investigate it (most of the issues are not simple ones) and write about it. I do think, however, that in recent issues, an effort has been made to use more measured language.
A third reason is that the local so-called newspaper is controlled by the Developer and buries, downplays, or spins stories (such as the IRS investigation) that could reflect unfavorably on the Developer or on The Villages itself. Villagers not reading the POA Bulletin or writing it off as the views of a bunch of malcontents generally aren't fully aware of those actions taken by the Developer that negatively impact, or could negatively impact, the residents. For example, there has been better coverage of the IRS investigation in the Orlando Sentinel (although sensationalized and containing inaccuracies) and NY Times than in the Daily Sun.
THE fourth reason why everyone does not join the POA is that the Developer supports a rival organization, the Villages Homeowner Association. The VHA which does perform some useful civic activities, in no way represents the interests of the Homeowners when they conflict with those of the Developer. In fact, its very existence is a patent attempt by the Developer to weaken the POA. In my view, the VHA ought to rethink its objectives, break with the Developer, and merge with the POA so that we would have one unified, independent, homeowners' organization representing our interests.