Anonymous Complaints

[rockyhyder]

Are anonymous complaints serving the best interest of Village residents?

[Bogie Shooter]

Not when one person submits 50+ complaints. This becomes selective enforcement.
I say sign your name and you must live in the District where the complaint is filed.

[retiredguy123]

If I have a violation and someone complains, anonymous or not, I will fix it. Period. Why not just follow the rules?

[JohnN]

NEITHER -
Community Watch should enforce the rules and take residents out of it

[retiredguy123]

NEITHER -
Community Watch should enforce the rules and take residents out of it
How would that eliminate complaints? There is no way Comminity Watch could enforce all of the rules. There are probably at least 20 violations on my street alone.

[MrFlorida]

If I have a violation and someone complains, anonymous or not, I will fix it. Period. Why not just follow the rules?

Exactly !

[Bogie Shooter]

NEITHER -
Community Watch should enforce the rules and take residents out of it

That did not work back in 2005.

[Taltarzac725]

I recall a neighbor asking my father to complain about the back yard bushes of the home owners across the street even though we cannot even see those bushes unless we are in those houses or in their back yards.

[Bogie Shooter]

Worth noting that when District 5 eliminated Anonymous complaints, total number of complaints went down.
Maybe the trolls were eliminated……

[CPD050]

I do not believe that enforcing these matters is the mission of community watch. I thought it was to provide a presence and patrol in order to keep us safe. Adding extra duties would probably mean needing more employees. So far I’ve been very happy with the watch. I was stopped at 2am by the watch while outside waiting for the groome van and was happy for encounter.

[Papa_lecki]

If I have a violation and someone complains, anonymous or not, I will fix it. Period. Why not just follow the rules?

Agree, but if the violations are 10/15/20 years old - how much of a violation was it?
One of the violations was the driveway was INCHES too wide.

you’re house is pink, your birdcage is over the setback, yup.
BUT, the seller should be liable for previous improvement not in compliance with ARC.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Neither. People complaining should be identified to Community Standards, but their identifying information should be confidential, and not available to the homeowner of the house being complained about.

In this way, there can be a standard of accountability imposed on the people making the complaints in addition to the people being complained about.

If you have to live in the same CDD as the property you're complaining about, that means Community Standards has to know who you are. I think this should always be the case.

[JoMar]

Worth noting that when District 5 eliminated Anonymous complaints, total number of complaints went down.
Maybe the trolls were eliminated……

Or folks can stop complying and feel empowered to trash the neighborhood. Won't matter until it's time to sell your house.

[JoMar]

Question? Why hasn't anyone taken photo's of the 'trolls" they claim to have seen?

[njbchbum]

Worth noting that when District 5 eliminated Anonymous complaints, total number of complaints went down.
Maybe the trolls were eliminated……

Were the violations eliminated or do they still exist?

[DAVES]

How would that eliminate complaints? There is no way Comminity Watch could enforce all of the rules. There are probably at least 20 violations on my street alone.

This same thought has been posted several times."There are probably at least 20 violations on my street alone." Rules and how to enforce them in a planned community are always an issue."
They can and do turn into neighbor wars. Do we want that?

I will bet on any property someone can find something in violation. An acquaintance of mine not The Villages, not even Florida was fighting over a tree. He had had the tree for years. He being stubborn AS I AM. Went to war over his tree. His legal bills last I herd were over 20,000.
He passed away. His daughter inherited the home and sold the property to the worst trash she could find.

[Stu from NYC]

Question? Why hasn't anyone taken photo's of the 'trolls" they claim to have seen?

A picture of the two old biddies in a golfcart with clipboard was posted on here some time ago

[Michael 61]

This one is a toughie - I could argue merits for both sides of this coin. I vote yes, keep,them anonymous, as I can see times where that might be the best option for a “serious” violation in a situation that could turn very comfortable or even hostile towards the person making the complaint. I do believe, however, that there needs to be some control over people that make frequent complaints about rather trivial infractions.

[Bogie Shooter]

Were the violations eliminated or do they still exist?

Can’t answer.
But, maybe the neighbors don’t feel little landscape violations (?) really aren’t violations.
Turning in 50+ complaints across ALL villages were probable WAG guesses any way……..by a troll.

[Arctic Fox]

Neither. People complaining should be identified to Community Standards, but their identifying information should be confidential, and not available to the homeowner of the house being complained about.

This would get my vote. Maybe the Poll can be re-run with this as one of the options.

[Jayhawk]

A picture of the two old biddies in a golfcart with clipboard was posted on here some time ago

Fake News.

[fdpaq0580]

Can’t answer.
But, maybe the neighbors don’t feel little landscape violations (?) really aren’t violations.
Turning in 50+ complaints across ALL villages were probable WAG guesses any way……..by a troll.

Per your quote from McCain, "truth and transparency". To me that means only legit and verified violations along with "verified and eligible source"* of complaint named on written copy of the complaint will be issued to the accused.

*"verified, eligible source" = "person or persons residing in the same village (perhaps) where the violation exists".

[fdpaq0580]

This would get my vote. Maybe the Poll can be re-run with this as one of the options.

Not voting is a "neither" vote.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Not voting is a "neither" vote.

Not voting is a "you won't know if I think neither, or if I think one, or the other. I'm not telling you."

There are how many members of Talk of the Villages who didn't vote? And you're assuming every single one of them thinks "neither?" I dunno - I think most of them think "I didn't even read the thread and don't know it exists."

Meanwhile, we have a policy right here on this forum, and on most forums on the internet. If someone is reported, and is shown to be violating a rule, that violator is infracted or otherwise given a heads up that they did something wrong. But they are NOT told who reported them. The admin of the site, however, knows our handle, our e-mail address, and our IP address. And if they really wanted to, they could find out who we are. So we are not anonymous to the forum admin. Our reports, however, are anonymous to the person who violated the rules.

I think that's 100% fair and legit.

[villagetinker]

Are anonymous complaints serving the best interest of Village residents?

I have thought about this several times, especially after our neighborhood was hit with around 3 dozen complaints, over the phone.

Here are my thoughts about how to change the existing system to maintain the anonymous system and at the same time eliminate the "trolls".

1. Anyone desiring to file complaint would be required to get a form from Community Standards (either online or at the office). Community Standards will design the form. Phoned in complaints will no longer be accepted.
2. The complainer would fill out the form, which would include the nature of the complaint, the location of the infraction, and whether it is a serious infraction. Serious infractions would involve, buildings, water flow/drainage, infraction of build lines, permits, etc. Minor infractions would typically be signs, lawn ornaments etc.
3. One (1) complaint per form.
4. The completed form would need to presented in person, with complainer’s village photo ID to the VCDD. The photo ID would NOT be recorded. The reason for this is that going forward, only people living in the same village would be allowed to file complaints in that village.
5. There would be NO identifying information on the person filing the complaint.
6. There will be a charge to be paid for each complaint filed, cash only. The charge could start at say $10 per complaint and be adjusted as necessary to limit “troll” activity. To maintain anonymity, there will be NO receipts or records of the payment.
7. If the review board finds the complaint to be valid, then the existing procedures will be used to get the property into compliance.

I am sure there would be some tweaks needed to ensure that the identity of the complainer is not recorded or revealed.

[Papa_lecki]

Neither. People complaining should be identified to Community Standards, but their identifying information should be confidential, and not available to the homeowner of the house being complained about.

In this way, there can be a standard of accountability imposed on the people making the complaints in addition to the people being complained about.

If you have to live in the same CDD as the property you're complaining about, that means Community Standards has to know who you are. I think this should always be the case.

Wont work in Florida - they have very open sunshine laws.

[JoMar]

A picture of the two old biddies in a golfcart with clipboard was posted on here some time ago

I don't remember that but assume no identification or more would have occurred.

[Travilinggal]

Not all complaints come from residents. I had a realtor stop me while I was out doing yard work. She is trying to sell a house two doors down from me for months. The house in between has an owner who is MIA. The yard is dead, half the trees and bushes are dead or overgrown, plenty of weeds and lots of mold. She told me she was going to report them.

[LuvNH]

Not all complaints come from residents. I had a realtor stop me while I was out doing yard work. She is trying to sell a house two doors down from me for months. The house in between has an owner who is MIA. The yard is dead, half the trees and bushes are dead or overgrown, plenty of weeds and lots of mold. She told me she was going to report them.

Unfortunately the worst cases of neglect never get rectified until the home is sold, usually by the bank that owns the property. We have one on our street where the owner is in a nursing home and there are no children or relatives interested in the property.

[drrichard]

I LOVE IT!! Good for you!!

I have thought about this several times, especially after our neighborhood was hit with around 3 dozen complaints, over the phone.

Here are my thoughts about how to change the existing system to maintain the anonymous system and at the same time eliminate the "trolls".

1. Anyone desiring to file complaint would be required to get a form from Community Standards (either online or at the office). Community Standards will design the form. Phoned in complaints will no longer be accepted.
2. The complainer would fill out the form, which would include the nature of the complaint, the location of the infraction, and whether it is a serious infraction. Serious infractions would involve, buildings, water flow/drainage, infraction of build lines, permits, etc. Minor infractions would typically be signs, lawn ornaments etc.
3. One (1) complaint per form.
4. The completed form would need to presented in person, with complainer’s village photo ID to the VCDD. The photo ID would NOT be recorded. The reason for this is that going forward, only people living in the same village would be allowed to file complaints in that village.
5. There would be NO identifying information on the person filing the complaint.
6. There will be a charge to be paid for each complaint filed, cash only. The charge could start at say $10 per complaint and be adjusted as necessary to limit “troll” activity. To maintain anonymity, there will be NO receipts or records of the payment.
7. If the review board finds the complaint to be valid, then the existing procedures will be used to get the property into compliance.

I am sure there would be some tweaks needed to ensure that the identity of the complainer is not recorded or revealed.

[GizmoWhiskers]

Not when one person submits 50+ complaints. This becomes selective enforcement.
I say sign your name and you must live in the District where the complaint is filed.


Not sure how the clipboard people are remaining annonymous but solution... the 40 plus people file class action suit against the enforcement of rules not enforced for the past 25 years.

Complaints ONLY from within the villa neighborhood itself OR each small named neighborhood within the district. Not even whole district.

T V should be doing waivers for any infractions not reported within say 2 -3 yrs from receipt of installation as neglect of reporting. This would stop the current selective enforcement that is happening.

T V should evaluate the infractions for beautification (ie brick boarder wall and flower beds not permitted but would have been approved in the long run vs removal) vs homeowner neglect and previously installed items that lack cohesiveness in the overall theme of the neighborhood.

They check for aggregious offensiveness based on the overall neighborhood aesthetic cohesiveness (when you know you know if something is beyond acceptable).

Is the annonymous status due to emailing complaints? You call on the phone they take names.
T V should disregard ALL emails not properly identified as being unjustified harassment- no name and contact info email is trashed. Homeowners deserve the right to know as discovery as threat for staulking.

T V community standards should be forced to do their jobs. They should be the clipboard people and neighborhoods should have been checking neighborhoods monthly from day 1 by inspecting themselves.

The vigilante vendedeta policing sometimes 25 yrs after installation should be called harassment and staulking and complaints should be treated as such with an eye toward legal basis.

I say to those hit the way they have been by mass email scandal lawyer up. Set a precident, it's about time. This is problem that is the fault of T V start there.

[kenpoboy]

Photo of the trolls...?? really?? they're like ninjas.....better chance of getting a photo of Bigfoot.

[RICH1]

Two old “ biddies” on a cart ! Lol
That should bring it down to just about 40,000 suspects

[Joe C.]

IMHO, complainers should NOT be anonymous.
However, the only complaint should come from an abutting property owner or an owner from across the street.

ALSO, if a complaint is filed, and found not to be legitimate, the complaintant should be fined $100.

It may not solve the problem, but may ease it a bit.

[Hank’s mom]

Not that simple!

[Bogie Shooter]

I have thought about this several times, especially after our neighborhood was hit with around 3 dozen complaints, over the phone.

Here are my thoughts about how to change the existing system to maintain the anonymous system and at the same time eliminate the "trolls".

1. Anyone desiring to file complaint would be required to get a form from Community Standards (either online or at the office). Community Standards will design the form. Phoned in complaints will no longer be accepted.
2. The complainer would fill out the form, which would include the nature of the complaint, the location of the infraction, and whether it is a serious infraction. Serious infractions would involve, buildings, water flow/drainage, infraction of build lines, permits, etc. Minor infractions would typically be signs, lawn ornaments etc.
3. One (1) complaint per form.
4. The completed form would need to presented in person, with complainer’s village photo ID to the VCDD. The photo ID would NOT be recorded. The reason for this is that going forward, only people living in the same village would be allowed to file complaints in that village.
5. There would be NO identifying information on the person filing the complaint.
6. There will be a charge to be paid for each complaint filed, cash only. The charge could start at say $10 per complaint and be adjusted as necessary to limit “troll” activity. To maintain anonymity, there will be NO receipts or records of the payment.
7. If the review board finds the complaint to be valid, then the existing procedures will be used to get the property into compliance.

I am sure there would be some tweaks needed to ensure that the identity of the complainer is not recorded or revealed.

Excellent starting point!

[Papa_lecki]

I like some of the suggestions in here

VT suggesting you pay some fee to file the complaint- even $1 or $1 per complaint will curtail some

I also like having different categories of complaints - the house with the overgrown weeds and car on cinderblocks vs the home that is 6” over the setback

Some sort of grandfathered absolution - i.e. if the improvement was done over 3/4/5 years ago it stays.

[ThirdOfFive]

None of the above.

There needs to be a third choice; i.e. have the powers-that-be in THE VILLAGES take over the responsibility of assuring, through regular monitoring, not only that standards are met, but fixes applied. The current system is akin to having the average motorist report speeders, with the cops following up only once the report is received. What kind of GAWDforsaken "reasoning" led to this current muddled mess is anyone's guess, but it smacks suspiciously of the selfsame powers-that-be deciding to shirk their obvious responsibility of assuring that standards are met and enforcing the rules if they are not, in the interests of--what? Profits? Image? I don't know. In any case, it is a mess and this "poll" will only result in a specious "answer" (i.e. the majority of respondents say....) that once again sidesteps the entire issue of where the responsibility OUGHT to rest.

That said, the fixes, even if those powers-that-be own up to their own responsibility in this matter, are neither simple nor easy. Nor will those fixes be quick: it has taken years to get is into this mess and it will probably take the same amount of time to get us back out.

In the interests of "no complaining without suggesting remedies", my suggestions are as follows:

1: Have the powers-that-be take over monitoring for compliance as soon as possible, according to a set schedule and pattern that is impartial in nature but which includes ALL of the various villages according to the standards in place in each Village. Doesn't have to be Community Standards doing the monitoring (though that is the glaringly obvious place for it) but a dept. set up for this purpose only.

2. Concentrate (at first, anyway) on only the glaringly obvious stuff, and have that list formulated and made public before monitoring is begun: Broken and duct-taped windows. Serious mold issues. Lawns overgrown with weeds. Cars up on blocks for weeks at a time. Dead trees. Broken siding. Garishly painted houses. Things like that. Forget the picayune bee ess such as inappropriate lawn ornaments. Those have little or no bearing on neighborhood continuity or property values anyway and serve merely as bones of contention for the hair-splitters.

3: Formulate a policy that ALL properties sold to buyers of homes in The Villages, if it can be proven that the property was sold by The Villages personnel with any of the egregious violations mentioned in (2) above not corrected by the time of sale, are grandfathered in if the sale date is more than five years before the date the infraction was first noted. If the sale date is less than five years before the date the infraction was noted, then absolve the homeowner of any responsibility to bring the property back into compliance and assure that The Villages, NOT the homeowner, is financially liable for the fix, if any. This does not apply if the violations were the result of things done to the property, or homeowner neglect, on the part of the homeowner, that occurred after the date of sale to the homeowner in question.

4: Start with a clean slate. Any infractions found by Villages personnel, if found to be the responsibility of the owner to correct (see #3 above), regardless if the infraction was reported before by Villagers or not, shall be given a generous window of time to correct: say 90 days to begin, another 90 days to complete. Levy fines ONLY if the work is not completed as ordered, and levy them in a totally impartial manner.

5. No fine forgiveness.

6: Establish a system where, in cases of disputed decisions regarding infractions, the issue shall be heard promptly by a board of arbitration consisting of three members: one acceptable to The Villages, on acceptable to the complainant, and one chosen at random. The decision of this board regarding the resolution of the issue shall be final.

This list is composed on the spur-of-the-moment and undoubtedly contains loopholes that the more legalistically-minded among us will equally undoubtedly point out, but that aside, the SPIRIT of how things should be handled remains the same. Details can always be hammered out, if the will to actually fix things in an equitable manner is sincere.

A posted noted a couple of weeks ago that "rules without enforcement are merely suggestions". The mess we're in is due solely to the powers-that-be shirking their responsibility in this matter, with all too many people ignoring those suggestions with impunity and fixes, if and when applied, are done so in a totally arbitrary manner. Time to face the issue squarely and take fair and responsible actions to get things back on track.

[Bilyclub]

Those Community Watch people have a whole page or two of daily duties that need to get done during their tour. Rules are rules no matter who reports them.

[merrymini]

The complaints went down but I doubt the infractions did. You would pit neighbor against neighbor. Terrible situation. Keep it anonymous.

[merrymini]

Not when one person submits 50+ complaints. This becomes selective enforcement.
I say sign your name and you must live in the District where the complaint is filed.

How would you know this if they are anonymous?

[gmracket]

When we moved here in 2004 we had an ornament in our front flower bed. We didn't know all the rules at that time just moving in was our job. The Villages Compliance Department came by and told us that we had to move it. It had to be touching the concrete walk versus the middle of the bed. We did that and that was it. I understand rules. Too much can be daunting, however, I think it's the cowards way out to complain anonymously. Most of these are silly complaints. If that's the case, we all would be guilty of some violation. How about the ones complaining. Have they looked at their yards?

[Bogie Shooter]

How would you know this if they are anonymous?

Submitted by email…….same email address.
Info from rep from Community. Standards.

[Challenger]

I have thought about this several times, especially after our neighborhood was hit with around 3 dozen complaints, over the phone.

Here are my thoughts about how to change the existing system to maintain the anonymous system and at the same time eliminate the "trolls".

1. Anyone desiring to file complaint would be required to get a form from Community Standards (either online or at the office). Community Standards will design the form. Phoned in complaints will no longer be accepted.
2. The complainer would fill out the form, which would include the nature of the complaint, the location of the infraction, and whether it is a serious infraction. Serious infractions would involve, buildings, water flow/drainage, infraction of build lines, permits, etc. Minor infractions would typically be signs, lawn ornaments etc.
3. One (1) complaint per form.
4. The completed form would need to presented in person, with complainer’s village photo ID to the VCDD. The photo ID would NOT be recorded. The reason for this is that going forward, only people living in the same village would be allowed to file complaints in that village.
5. There would be NO identifying information on the person filing the complaint.
6. There will be a charge to be paid for each complaint filed, cash only. The charge could start at say $10 per complaint and be adjusted as necessary to limit “troll” activity. To maintain anonymity, there will be NO receipts or records of the payment.
7. If the review board finds the complaint to be valid, then the existing procedures will be used to get the property into compliance.

I am sure there would be some tweaks needed to ensure that the identity of the complainer is not recorded or revealed.

Old post, but well thought out. I would support such an approach.

[jparsoneau@aol.com]

If you feel so strongly enough that you need to report it. You should put your name down on it. If you’re not willing to put your name on it it’s obviously not that important. And yes, if these trolls are out there, taking pictures I would take a picture of them and post them. Why hasn’t anybody else.
I would also have an issue if I bought a house that is a joost Home and Village real estate agent listed it and sold it to me and none of that made me aware of the out of compliance issues. I feel that they have some liability as well.

[jparsoneau@aol.com]

If you feel so strongly enough that you need to report it. You should put your name down on it. If you’re not willing to put your name on it it’s obviously not that important. And yes, if these trolls are out there, taking pictures I would take a picture of them and post them. Why hasn’t anybody else.
I would also have an issue if I bought a house that is a used Home and Village real estate agent listed it and sold it to me and none of that made me aware of the out of compliance issues. I feel that they have some liability as well.

[C4Boston]

Are anonymous complaints serving the best interest of Village residents?

Residents should be restricted to filing one complaint per 90 day period. That would stop the stupid trolls but retain an avenue for legitimate neighborhood issues.

[eyc234]

NEITHER -
Community Watch should enforce the rules and take residents out of it

Everyone would have to be willing to pay for a lot more Community Watch employees and vehicles. Ask residents how much they are willing to pay to have this happen! Also what is going to be the pain and aggravation when 60 or 70% of a street finds out they are out of compliance on something? How about adding a few employees that you can have check your residence for compliance and have them check homes prior to selling or buying for compliance.

[Vermilion Villager]

Not when one person submits 50+ complaints. This becomes selective enforcement.
I say sign your name and you must live in the District where the complaint is filed.
How would you know that? If I understand this correct the reporting system is anonymous... which would mean you would have absolutely no knowledge that one person submitted 50 complaints. Can you shed some light on this and how you get this information?

[Vermilion Villager]

Worth noting that when District 5 eliminated Anonymous complaints, total number of complaints went down.
Maybe the trolls were eliminated……

But did the infractions go down????

[Vermilion Villager]

Can’t answer.
But, maybe the neighbors don’t feel little landscape violations (?) really aren’t violations.
Turning in 50+ complaints across ALL villages were probable WAG guesses any way……..by a troll.
OMG.....you do realize YOU were the one who said it in post #2

[Bogie Shooter]

How would you know that? If I understand this correct the reporting system is anonymous... which would mean you would have absolutely no knowledge that one person submitted 50 complaints. Can you shed some light on this and how you get this information?

Sometimes, no wait, all the time it pays to read all posts before sounding off…………….see post 43.

[Bogie Shooter]

OMG.....you do realize YOU were the one who said it in post #2

:what:

[asianthree]

Not sure how the clipboard people are remaining annonymous but solution... the 40 plus people file class action suit against the enforcement of rules not enforced for the past 25 years.

Complaints ONLY from within the villa neighborhood itself OR each small named neighborhood within the district. Not even whole district.

T V should be doing waivers for any infractions not reported within say 2 -3 yrs from receipt of installation as neglect of reporting. This would stop the current selective enforcement that is happening.

T V should evaluate the infractions for beautification (ie brick boarder wall and flower beds not permitted but would have been approved in the long run vs removal) vs homeowner neglect and previously installed items that lack cohesiveness in the overall theme of the neighborhood.

They check for aggregious offensiveness based on the overall neighborhood aesthetic cohesiveness (when you know you know if something is beyond acceptable).

Is the annonymous status due to emailing complaints? You call on the phone they take names.
T V should disregard ALL emails not properly identified as being unjustified harassment- no name and contact info email is trashed. Homeowners deserve the right to know as discovery as threat for staulking.

T V community standards should be forced to do their jobs. They should be the clipboard people and neighborhoods should have been checking neighborhoods monthly from day 1 by inspecting themselves.

The vigilante vendedeta policing sometimes 25 yrs after installation should be called harassment and staulking and complaints should be treated as such with an eye toward legal basis.

I say to those hit the way they have been by mass email scandal lawyer up. Set a precident, it's about time. This is problem that is the fault of T V start there.

Please let us know What Attorney will bring this lawsuit. For those who have been here awhile, we know the list is Very short, for any practice to file something so trivial, or any lawsuit

[Vermilion Villager]

Sometimes, no wait, all the time it pays to read all posts before sounding off…………….see post 43.

So....you are saying you have a contact in Community Standards....who is giving YOU confidential information in the form of an individual's email address?????? You do know I am going to check this out and verify it first thing Monday morning.......

[asianthree]

How would you know that? If I understand this correct the reporting system is anonymous... which would mean you would have absolutely no knowledge that one person submitted 50 complaints. Can you shed some light on this and how you get this information?

When the compliance person knocks on your door, hands you the paperwork, you walk out to the area that was a supposed deed violation. Compliance person looks at your White Cross, that is really a dormant vine, and laughs. Then says if we charged $5 to file a complaint, then this person would stop filing 50-60 complaints at a time. Maybe, just maybe get a life.

Have had 3 complaints filed for 3 different houses, each was filed with more than 50 complaints. None of the complaints filed against our property were deed issues. I won, crazy person lost, and poor compliance person had to waste time, gas, and general aggravation.

So yes you know how many are filed, from the compliance person, and on your village websites.

[Bogie Shooter]

So....you are saying you have a contact in Community Standards....who is giving YOU confidential information in the form of an individual's email address?????? You do know I am going to check this out and verify it first thing Monday morning.......

Do what you want.

The rep from community standards shared this info when he provided us with the complaint. As well as the 5 others on the same block.
An article on the other news site also quoted the same story.
So, no inside info.
For your information, a complaint submitted via email…..the address becomes available to whoever asks.

Further, you may want to visit this link.
VCDD Community Standards (https://districtgov.org/departments/Community-Standards/community-standards.aspx)

[Nana2Teddy]

Worth noting that when District 5 eliminated Anonymous complaints, total number of complaints went down.
Maybe the trolls were eliminated……
But did/will the beauty of the villages in that district deteriorate too? I’d sure love to see how that goes as time passes. There’s a home in our village that is hideously covered with yard art of all kinds, and even the garage door is always covered with messages for the different holidays. Apparently no one on that street has complained, so it never changes. I’m just glad I’m around the block, and my immediate neighbors follow the district rules. After living next door for 20 years to a total dump in our former state we love the restrictions here, but it sucks that if anything changes with a neighbor’s property we’d have to be the ones to report it since The Villages won’t take responsibility. It shouldn’t be neighbor against neighbor. IMO!

[Nana2Teddy]

This would get my vote. Maybe the Poll can be re-run with this as one of the options.
Agree!

[Nana2Teddy]

Neither. People complaining should be identified to Community Standards, but their identifying information should be confidential, and not available to the homeowner of the house being complained about.

In this way, there can be a standard of accountability imposed on the people making the complaints in addition to the people being complained about.

If you have to live in the same CDD as the property you're complaining about, that means Community Standards has to know who you are. I think this should always be the case.
This! ^^^

[RustyN]

http://youtu.be/koVwmgUyDwM

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

How would you know this if they are anonymous?

YOU - would not know this. The department someone called to submit the complaint would know this.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

So....you are saying you have a contact in Community Standards....who is giving YOU confidential information in the form of an individual's email address?????? You do know I am going to check this out and verify it first thing Monday morning.......

Under Florida Law, if you elect to correspond with the Community Development District via e-mail, your email address becomes public record. If you do not want your e-mail to become part of the public record, available for public record requests, then do not send e-mail to this entity.

[asianthree]

But did/will the beauty of the villages in that district deteriorate too? I’d sure love to see how that goes as time passes. There’s a home in our village that is hideously covered with yard art of all kinds, and even the garage door is always covered with messages for the different holidays. Apparently no one on that street has complained, so it never changes. I’m just glad I’m around the block, and my immediate neighbors follow the district rules. After living next door for 20 years to a total dump in our former state we love the restrictions here, but it sucks that if anything changes with a neighbor’s property we’d have to be the ones to report it since The Villages won’t take responsibility. It shouldn’t be neighbor against neighbor. IMO!

It has been less than a year since the change of no longer summiting anonymous complaints. Complaints are still filed, but the random 50plus at a time has curtailed greatly. Now the complaints that are filed, seem to be those who live in that area. Which is how it should be.

Holiday decorations can be displayed for 30 days, with either yard or outdoor decorations. If the home annoys you, then file a complaint with community standards. You can hide by filing anonymously, or find out if this is a super older citizen, that could use help getting things under control.

Our first neighborhood had a home that holiday decorations stayed up for months, Why, because she had taken a fall, and couldn’t get out to bring them down. After that everyone took turns, making sure her decorations got safely put up and removed. It does take a village to make people’s life a little better

[Vermilion Villager]

Do what you want.

The rep from community standards shared this info when he provided us with the complaint. As well as the 5 others on the same block.
An article on the other news site also quoted the same story.
So, no inside info.
For your information, a complaint submitted via email…..the address becomes available to whoever asks.

Further, you may want to visit this link.
VCDD Community Standards (https://districtgov.org/departments/Community-Standards/community-standards.aspx)
Yes I know the law...
Interesting..... You stated earlier that you obtained this information of 50 complaints by one person when you inquired to the CDD about an infraction in your neighborhood....correct?
What district are you in? I'm pretty sure or will find out very shortly that the person who you claim to have spoken with would not be in the loop to have this information at their fingertips. So if what you're saying is correct... And you did get the actual email address or the person you were talking to add that email address at their disposal, then the person would be one or two particular people within the CDD. FL law provides the CDDs may charge for this information, and every CDD does. How much did you pay....for 50 complaints????:popcorn:

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I met a man the other day who said he was concerned about all the complaints made against my neighborhood about all the white crosses and other lawn decorations, and wasn't I up in arms about that?

I just kinda had to chuckle about that. Here in the "historic section" tacking pink flamingo lawn decorations are ALLOWED. We don't have that particular deed restriction. Our tacky pink flamingos still need to be placed on "well-kept" lawns with proper edging, not overgrown beyond 4 inches in height, with no shrubbery more than 4 feet high and no fences. We have a bunch of other restrictions too. But - lawn decorations are not listed among them.

So complain away, ladies and gents. I'll be on the front lawn with my concrete gargoyles, clay turtles, and ceramic ducks, waving to Community Standards as they drive on past.

[Bogie Shooter]

Yes I know the law...
Interesting..... You stated earlier that you obtained this information of 50 complaints by one person when you inquired to the CDD about an infraction in your neighborhood....correct?
What district are you in? I'm pretty sure or will find out very shortly that the person who you claim to have spoken with would not be in the loop to have this information at their fingertips. So if what you're saying is correct... And you did get the actual email address or the person you were talking to add that email address at their disposal, then the person would be one or two particular people within the CDD. FL law provides the CDDs may charge for this information, and every CDD does. How much did you pay....for 50 complaints????:popcorn:

Did not contact CDD. (Community Development District)

It’s none of your business what district I am in.

I had no interest in getting any emails…..and did not.

No contact inquiry, no information received, no payment.

This is the last time I will be responding to you silly accusations.

[Pairadocs]

Question? Why hasn't anyone taken photo's of the 'trolls" they claim to have seen?

There are pictures floating around !

[Pairadocs]

It has been less than a year since the change of no longer summiting anonymous complaints. Complaints are still filed, but the random 50plus at a time has curtailed greatly. Now the complaints that are filed, seem to be those who live in that area. Which is how it should be.

Holiday decorations can be displayed for 30 days, with either yard or outdoor decorations. If the home annoys you, then file a complaint with community standards. You can hide by filing anonymously, or find out if this is a super older citizen, that could use help getting things under control.

Our first neighborhood had a home that holiday decorations stayed up for months, Why, because she had taken a fall, and couldn’t get out to bring them down. After that everyone took turns, making sure her decorations got safely put up and removed. It does take a village to make people’s life a little better

What an uplifting post. I've read so many self-righteous comments over the years, on this and other sites, with people so ready to "jump" on a neighbor without any regard to their need or condition. I see so many really derogatory comments on other sight (assume by residents outside the Villages community), about "villagers" being: entitled snobs, cold, idiots, the phrase "could not care less about anyone but their own entitled selves" has been used. This always strikes my heart as, in general, people ARE SO GIVING, do so much for others outside our community, but... the prevailing image of a "villagers" is exactly as ONLY A FEW actually are. Had an illness, or fall, or other that prevents you from getting your lawn mowed to the exact height that pleases an "entitled" neighbor, well, get the money and hire someone. That's the type (though rare thankfully) of person who gives everyone those derogatory names. "Tone deaf" to others, the attitude of "if I HAVE PLENTY of money, then you should too" are the folks who others in are area see as "elites". I am so heartened that people in your village work on human kindness, take the time to see if someone needs some help, etc. Yes, most village residents are very kind and generous, but, there are enough to give us that very bad look in the eyes of our surrounding neighbors "outside".

[Nana2Teddy]

It has been less than a year since the change of no longer summiting anonymous complaints. Complaints are still filed, but the random 50plus at a time has curtailed greatly. Now the complaints that are filed, seem to be those who live in that area. Which is how it should be.

Holiday decorations can be displayed for 30 days, with either yard or outdoor decorations. If the home annoys you, then file a complaint with community standards. You can hide by filing anonymously, or find out if this is a super older citizen, that could use help getting things under control.

Our first neighborhood had a home that holiday decorations stayed up for months, Why, because she had taken a fall, and couldn’t get out to bring them down. After that everyone took turns, making sure her decorations got safely put up and removed. It does take a village to make people’s life a little better
This isn’t the situation at all with this home. It’s a young retiree who just happens to love going crazy with the outdoor decor. Over the top crazy! And changes her garage door decorations for every holiday. Not an elderly person who needs help. At least not that kind of help, lol. I don’t have to look at it daily, so I’ll stay out if it, but if it was across the street or next door I’d definitely report it. I’m not against yard art, just over the top, every inch of yard covered yard art.