Airbnb in The Villages
 

I live across the street from an Airbnb - people coming and going every week - most are under the age of 55.

Are there any violations here?

Maybe, for operating a business from a home. But good luck getting it enforced. Having tenants under 55 is not a violation.

Imho, Richmond is rental central. I rented three times there this winter and virtually everyone I met was also a rental. It seems as though investors jumped on that Village and bought many of the homes to rent.

No violation.

It depends. If the owners of the home are not living there and renting through the AIRBnB platform then there is no violation, even if they are renting by the night. On the other hand, if the owners are living in the home and simultaneously renting out space in their home then two deed restrictions are being violated. First, the home is not being used as a single family residential unit. Second, the owner is running a business out of their home.

There are two kinds of deed restrictions, external and internal. External deed restrictions, like putting a little white cross in one’s front garden, are strictly enforced by community standards once reported. Internal deed restrictions, like running a business out of one’s home, are enforced by the developer once reported. Unfortunately, the developer has chosen to be both very lax and selective about enforcing these restrictions. In my opinion, it should not be the developers job to enforce internal deed restrictions as they have an inherent conflict of interest. Limiting AIRBnB rentals would arguably reduce demand for new homes as certain potential buyers would not have that option of generating income while living in their home. As we are all well aware, selling homes is the developers top priority.

By selectively enforcing some deed restrictions, looking the other way on others, all while very strictly enforcing lesser deed restriction violations that are minimally disruptive to a neighborhood, the whole deed restriction thing has become a sham.

Yep - you are spot on - on the block I live on, I am the only owner-resident - very difficult to make friends with neighbors, with the majority of residents shoe-term renters or bnb folks on vacation. Luckily today I met a owner-resident on the street over, and she has taken the “Bull by the horns” and has started a club for the folks in our villas the own their homes (monthly socials).

I’ve been here four months now - absolutely love it - I am in so many clubs/activities right now and meeting great people - just not many of my neighbors in Richmond, which is kind of discouraging, but I’m making it work! Glad to be here, and I wake up very happy each morning, looking forward to the adventures of the day.

NO and when the PGA tournaments come here my house is an AIRBNB for that week LOL.

And if you honestly wanted an answer to this question (wink wink) you only need call this number -

Community Standards
Phone: 352-751-3912 • Fax: 352-751-6707

Just like illegally crossing the boarder to get into the USA is not really illegal if those who are charged with enforcement choose to do nothing about it?

OP, tends to start threads with a question at the end…………..

The state considers anyone who rents for less than 6 months to be a transient rental accommodations provider and legally required to register with the Florida Department of Revenue for a sales tax certificate. To me needing to pay Sales and Use tax sounds like a business.

Secondly our deed restrictions state:
Section 1. The Subdivision is an adult community designed to provide housing for persons 55 years of age or older. All homes that are occupied must be occupied by at least one person who is at least fifty-five (55) years of age. Note it says occupied and not owned.

That sounds like 2 violations to me.

Again all one needs do is call

Community Standards
Phone: 352-751-3912 • Fax: 352-751-6707

The Villages issue temporary resident IDs to renters every day of the week. They know the criteria.

I agree with you, 100%, although I'd have to check my Deed Restrictions for that language, I understand not all Villages have the same Deed Restrictions.

STR's seem to be a big issue in The Villages (as well as in many cities), why haven't folks gotten together and formed a coalition to do something about it?

If that general language is in most everyone's deed, then most everyone is a 3rd Party Beneficiary of the Restriction and would certainly have standing to file an action for enforcement, in court.

I did, see post #5. For an AIRBnB deed restriction violation Community Standards will transfer you to a representative of the developer, who theoretically enforces internal deed restriction violations. They acknowledged that the two deed restriction violations stated in post #5 were in fact being violated. They noted my reporting the issue and proceeded to do absolutely nothing about it, claiming internal deed violations are very difficult to enforce! Why so difficult, all they had to do was go to the AIRBnB website and look at the listing for that address and they would have proof of said violations? They very obviously have made a conscious and calculated decision to look the other way regarding said deed restriction violations. This totally discredits the whole deed restriction system in the Villages, very sad : )

I did

Read your deed restrictions. They most likely say that business are not allowed that store inventory or have clients visit. Some would certainly argue that a renter is a client - the authorities would likely dismiss that argument.

The State of Florida has a statute (509.032 perhaps) that limits what localities can do to limit short term rentals. It may not be possible for the Villages to do anything about short term rentals.

As far as two families in the same house, are you telling me I cannot have my friends from MD or NY come to stay with me?

What you see as "selective enforcement" may be the VCCDD and the numbered CDDs taking different approaches to enforcement. Perhaps the VCCDD has chosen to be more lenient and overlook certain violations while the numbered CDDs have chosen to be more strict. Not selective enforcement but enforcement handled by different entities with different decision processes.

I believe Florida prohibits towns from adopted regulations that would prohibit STR's.

I think you also need a "License" to operate an STR.

Whether the state or municipality has applicable regulations, shouldn't be relevant when it comes to enforcing Deed Restrictions. Restrictions and Covenants are entirely different issue than zoning.

Florida Short Term Rental Laws: AirBnB & Vacation Rental Regulations.

I believe this is more commonly known as "simply asking questions"...

Forgive me for having a question at the end of my post, but is this against the rules?

I’ve got Bogie on ignore, but saw you copied his post _ - he seems to enjoy calling me out for some reason, I don’t get it, I’ve never addressed him directly, I guess I annoy him somehow, but he loves to spend time reading my posts anyway. I come here in good faith to ask questions, if bogie doesn’t like to read my posts, he is free to put me on “ignore”.

Of course you can, having friends and family occasionally visit is totally different than having a revolving door of strangers paying a fee to rent a room in your home while you are living there.

To be so concerned what others do
Airbnb
Yet our gov has wide open borders 🙃

Just curious, what makes it an AIRbnb? We rented a courtyard villa for a one week stay on our first visit to The Villages in 2018 or 2019, not sure if that qualifies as an AIRbnb because of the length of stay?

The funny "kicker" in T V is that you CANNOT get a guest pass for ANY visitor who resides within certain close proximity to T V; ie Lady Lake or Wildwood etc.

For instance you have a close friend just outside of "The Bubble" and want to invite them to swim, play P B or shuffleboard... nope! I have family about 1.5 hrs from T V. Was ALMOST told no on a visitor pass because the pass giver THOUGHT I meant Lady Lake not Lake Mary.

Soooo it's OK to A B n B and grant passes to God knows who but God forbid a guest be tainted by too close a locality.

T V will gladly take locals' $$ in the entertainment arena but don't swim in our pools or play on our pickleball courts and for sure, don't fall in love with that person you meet sitting next to you in the bar if they have an id from certain zip codes!

Some things in T V are just wonkie.

The A B n B phenomenon started around 2007. The Villages was most likely fairly unheard of nationwide unlike it is now. T V seems to be exploding as some type world reknowned Golf Eutopia.

T V founders could not predict the phenomenon. It would be nice IF there were some means of cracking down on hotel-ing out T V. Villagers have rules on WHO THEY can befriend locally but NOT rent to daily.

Rules on nightly rentals won't happen. The almighty $$ is all that is on the minds of those too lazy to look for and sign on sign 6 mos to yearly leasers. It's sad.

We should get the city governments to create an ordinance that owners in 55+ communities can only rent those who are 55+ in age. Also, the cumulative annual time restriction for minors should be included in the ordinance. This issue will get worse as TV grows closer to Disney.

AIRbnb is a website, and people go on it to book stays at homes all across America, and elsewhere. I’m quite familiar with it, and I’ve used it for short stays (usually one week) in The Villages. It has a close competitor too, btw, and both of these websites have extensive listings in TV.

I was a bit surprised though that the original OP of this post stated he sees a lot of under-55 folks staying across the street. I thought you needed to be over-55, but apparently you don’t. However, being in this age range is required in order to get a guest pass to use the amenities. I’ve had to show proof of age via a passport or driver’s license to get a visitor’s pass.

Thanks everyone for posting info on this subject - I’m still relatively new here, so still learning and sorting through all this and learning the rules and Regs - thank you for your patience with me and your kindness in answering questions.

If you have an online ad to rent a room in your house, you are operating a business, which is a violation. The problem is that The Villages will not enforce the rule. Rules without enforcement are worthless.

Is there a “next level” to bring this matter to

You should also lodge a complaint. This will eventually affect our property values as some of these rentals are cheaper than Motel 6. Word will get around and then no one is going to want to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for a house next to a cheap hotel.

All politics are local...

What bothers me is the developers non-enforcement of their rules. This will bode ill for the future of our communities. Rules are good.

Hopefully now that the high season is winding down, your situation will (temporarily) ease. On the other hand I have heard some villa owners calling their neighborhood in the off season a 'ghost town'. I do agree with the others that suggested you should follow the complaint procedures. It appears this is a growing problem & only growing complaints will generate some type of discussions as to remediation.

AIRBNB is the future ! Look for these Renters on the Golf Course! THE AIRBNB is a Runaway Train that will soon be in your neighborhood.

I correct. If you live nearby you absolutely can get a visitors pass. In fact, it lasts for 1 year. It’s called an in area pass. I got one for my daughter who lives in Clermont.

Its all about the money. It cost the developer money to enforce the rules. In this case the developer does not gain anything by enforcing this rule. So they have no incentive to spend money to stop it.

Break a rule that disrupts their income, and the developer will come at you hard.

The issue I have is the landlords who are renting to 2 families with 7 people living in the Airbnb simultaneously are all getting amenities ID cards for the same amenities price that a single occupancy owner pays.

If that's the case I will start getting ID cards for friends who live just outside TV. You think it's hard to get a tee time now, just wait because it's gonna get a lost worst.

Screw it, you can't beat them join them.

You got it because it was your daughter. Here is the rule:

Residents of The Villages with a valid Resident ID
card can apply for a Guest ID card. A qualified
guest is defined as an individual whose current
residence is outside Lake, Marion and Sumter
counties. A resident who has a son, daughter,
grandchild or great grandchild (and their spouses)
who reside in Lake, Marion or Sumter counties may
apply for an In-Area Guest ID card.

Maybe I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying, but I was able to get my 43 y/o daughter a visitor’s pass last week for her visit here by just filling out a short form at a regional rec center. Was handed a guest card in less than 5 minutes. No ID shown.

Call The Villages Community Standards, (352) 751-3912. Ask them.

You can't do that. You cannot get a guest pass for someone who lives within (I think) 50 miles of TV...

But thanks for the "nice" sentiment...