Villages - general question
 

Is The Villages still a 55 and older development? We are wanting to move there.

Yes!
More info here.

FAQ | The Villages

Has anybody ever been turned down from purchasing a house because of age?

We have friends who recently bought in TV. They are both under 55. The question never came up.

My bet is if one is ready to write a check TV isn't going to see if the 55+ ratio has been met for the day/week/year(?).

You don't have to be 55+ to buy a house. You only have to be 19 or older. But if you want to LIVE in the house, at least one person living in that house has to be 55 or older.

In other words, young adults can buy homes in their own name, and have their grandparents live there - for example.

To be considered a 55+ retirement community, at least 80% of the homes have to be owned/occupied by at least one person 55 years old or older. Up to 20% can be owned/occupied by individuals who are not yet 55; but a person must be 19 or older to live here full time. I believe there are two villages here that are "family villages, but I do not know for sure.

I have not seen statistics that show the percentage of homes presently occupied by 55+.

This is not correct. Read the Deed Restrictions.

:agree: IMHO, there is a lot of wrong information out there.

There is indeed a lot of incorrect information out there on this subject. And for some reason, it refuses to die.

I have never ever heard of it being enforced . Sinkholes are the bigger problem. The developer has abandoned the Northern areas of the Villages. Specificaly the condemned sinkhole homes in District 4, and the DRY LAKES in Districts*2 and 4.*
*I suppose there is no guarantee against SINKHOLES OR DRY LAKES in the newer Villages either! Google the following for examples:
"sinkhole at 733 Winifred Way" and*"sinkhole at 17092 McLawren Terrace"*and "sinkhole at 2536 Botello Ave", there are more, but you get the idea, watch out for those waterfront views.

One person does not have to be 55 to live in the house. There is an 80 20 rule. No one under 19 can live in The Villages unless they live in the “family” areas

Ownership is not considered in the law creating 55+. The requirement is that 80percent of dwellings must have one or more occupants 55 or over. They
can all be freeloaders, parents, renters or whatever .

But if you are 19, you can PURCHASE a home in the Villages. Buying a home doesn't mean living in one, or occupying one.

You don't have to be 55 or older to PURCHASE any home in the Villages at all. You only have to be 19 or older. You can be 19 years old, buy 4 Designer homes in the Villages, and rent every single one of them out to 55+ couples if you want. You just can't live in it permanently if you are not living with at least one resident who is 55 or older (notwithstanding the 80/20 rule).

If a 55-year-old lives in the house, then their 19-year-old child is allowed to live there too. That 19-year-old is not allowed to use the adult pools, because there is a 30+ age restriction on those pools. But yes, they may live there. That 19-year-old is not allowed to live there by himself, unless that 80/20 exemption is applied.

The law says that at least one person residing in 80% of the homes must be 55 or older. It does not forbid 19 year olds from living there too.

The deed restrictions prevent 19-year-olds from being the sole occupant of the home, and they prevent families, none of whom are at least 55 years old, from residing in the home (except in the areas designated for families, notwithstanding the 80/20 law, which is a law, not a policy).

And there is no age guideline/rule/ratio for resales.

No. A 19yo can purchase and live full time in the house alone. As long as the community has above 80% 55+ occupancy. There are many couples in there early 50s living here.

Again. So much misunderstanding about this subject.

Also not true. Lots of people believe that, but there is a process that takes place. I know this because I just recently looked into how TV insures that we do not go below 80%.

:agree:

At least 80% of the homes must be occupied by at least one person 55 or older in order to qualify as an "age restricted community". I am not sure how that is monitored, but I would be willing to bet my 401K that we are not even close to 20% being occupied by under 55 couples or families. Yes there are a few and I have met a couple but there are over 50,000 homes in TV and there are NOT 10,000 that have no one over 55.

Those that wish to do some reading, search for information on the Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA). You can see for yourself that many if the things that you have heard are not accurate.

There are actually just shy of 62,000 homes in The Villages. While I am not positive, I believe they can monitor ages via The Villages ID cards. I also know several couples under 55 and I agree that it is very unlikely that we are anywhere close to 20% under 55.

55 over and under
 

Please tell me what you learned. Also tell me if you believe TV powers care. I recall a posting where a resident said the developer stated the company couldn't do anything about loser kids living here; no authority over what goes on inside a home. And what goes on outside a home is the district's problem.

So, tell me, who's regulating this 80/20 rule?

The misunderstanding is on your part, since you're the one who is agreeing with everything I said, while at the same time saying "no."

For anyone who wishes to know the FACTS re 55+ Communities rules, regs, statutes, law, and much more - here's the site for you"
Housing-55 & Older Communities — Florida Commission on Human Relations

The brief summary is:
Housing for Older Persons Requirements

Federal Register 24 CFR Part 100; section 760.24-760.37 (4a), Florida Statutes

For a community to be considered "housing for older persons" as a 55+ community, the housing must be intended and operated for occupancy by persons 55 years of age or older and meet the following requirements:

At least 80% of the occupied units are occupied by at least one person 55 years of age or older.

The facility or community publishes and adheres to policies and procedures that demonstrate its intent to in fact be a provider of housing for older persons.

The facility or community complies with rules established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for verification of occupancy.

And my bet is that the Admin Office of TV knows the birthday and date of anyone who has applied for their Villagers ID!

Bingo!

Essentially if a community complies with these guidelines and remains in compliance it is allowed to practice age discrimination otherwise countrary to federal laws prohibiting housing discrimination of any kind.

It is a piece of cake for TV to monitor its compliance through it's amenities ID system.

Not sure why you want to talk about "loser kids". They "can't do anything about it" because they are living here legally.

Yes, of course they care. If the community goes below 80%, we lose our 55+ designation and can never get it back. It is monitored, and currently we are about 93%. All sales are reviewed by 'The Developer', including resales.

I don't want to talk about "loser kids." I was quoting another poster. Furthermore, are you saying even re-sales are reviewed by the developer? Really?

Wow! So many experts..all with conflicting information.

All who live here supposedly have resident or guest I.D.s, right? I think you have to provide a birth date info to obtain an I.D. So District.gov should know who lives here and how old they are (provided they have a way to correct their data when someone passes on).

Yes, I was told that all sales, including re-sales of exiting properties, are reviewed.

I asked about this because I know that lots of 55+ communities (for example high rise condo buildings) control to 100% 55+. They have a process for approving all sales. So, there must be a process here to ensure that we do not fall below 80%.

Yep. Everyone needs to remember that this is a forum for discussion, not for getting important information.

Under 19's are not supposed to live here full time with or without someone that is 55 or older. Now if you happen to be 55 and have a spouse that is under 19, that might be a different matter. But I've lived here over a year and neither my wife or I are 55 yet (I'll be there soon). We are among the allowable 20% as has been discussed here already. A community need only meet the 80% side of the rule to be able to call itself a 55+ community and The Villages exceeds that 80% by a significant margin. So there are really 2 questions here - is The Villages still considered a 55+ Community? - YES - does someone living in the home have to be 55+ - NO. You can have it both ways and residents here clearly do.

That's the bottom line, but if no-one complains, they fly under the radar.
A school bus even picks up outside the gates of Historical.
I am in no way implying that residents should complain.
There was a fellow mentioned in the Online Newspaper involved in a long dispute with his daughter.
He ended up with custody of his grandson.
I don't know how many, but there are kids under 19 living in TV, and not just in Historical.

Another view; we in TV would like to have great professionals, such as, doctors, dentists, nurses etc close by. They and their families need an inviting and accommodating area to live in. It would make up only a small percentage of the residents.

That's what the 20% "Family" villages areas were designed for. To house those families of people who work in/for the Villages, who would otherwise not qualify due to having minor children, or no one being over 55 (for example). That was part of the sales pitch we got years ago when we first started looking.

My husband and I, 52 and 51, respectively, bought a pre-owned home in 2014. In 2015 we purchased a new home and had no issues closings with either. The 80 20 rule allows those below the age requirement to purchase.

Our first home sold to 21 and 26 yo. Paid cash. Parents live in TV, so we were guessing needed to be near them

That's why there are several family communities like Parkwood Village on CR 101.
They can't use our amenities, but they are close to The Villages.
And their children can attend The Villages Charter School.

Spring Arbor and Buffalo Ridge are family villages - children welcome - not officially part of The Villages Retirement Community, but within the boundries.