2021 0703 Sat ������ 07:07
I have a neighbor whose wife was due yesterday (expecting a baby). His yard has “lapsed”. Come Monday, if he has not seen to his yard, I will head over and begin to spruce it up (mow, edge, weed).

Perhaps you have the wherewithal to do a similar intervention?

Now is a good time to experiment with different brands of fertilizers!

The real estate agent works for the seller. They have no obligation to disclose something like that to a buyer. Buyer beware.

Really? If the house next door was “abandoned for several years” wouldn’t it have already looked horrific when you purchased the house directly next door?!?
Nothing about the OP rings true. Sounds more like someone with too much time on their hands just stirring the pot…

It is important that no one mows the yard of an abandoned house. It will be declared "in compliance" and the process will reset to step one. As bad as it gets, everyone must allow the process to play out until the CDD can legally hire someone to go onto the property. Unless of course you are willing to cut the grass every week until the property is finally sold.

Now that's funny
 

That's how I think. But in reality all it will do is get them fined and then if you want to buy the house you have to pay the fines. The best thing is to get the owner's name if possible, and they're probably dead or in a home for the mental so you can't do much and then you would have to track whoever is legally in charge of the house and their assets, of course if the town really cared they could get it through eminent domain! It might take one year or two. By the way if you want to rent your home under price it by $500 a month and you'll see how fast somebody grabs it and they won't care what the house next door looks like

Process for TV notification
 

I'm not sure where you are located but someone in Fenney is going through a similar situation. After many attempts at getting resolution she posted the following process for Districts 12 & 13.

1) File your complaint by letter to Community Standards at deedcompliance@districtgov.org. Community Standards at this juncture is simply the liaison to the developer and his representative Mr Dzuro, who is the only person technically who can enforce deed restrictions before a board is elected to represent the District, which they now are. My question is then why hasn’t he done it? That’s what our tax dollars are paying for!).
2). Mr Dzuro can be reached directly at archreview@district.gov.
3). A board of directors has been voted upon and is established now to pass legislation on deed compliance. The chairman of District 12 and 13 is Jon Roudabush who can be contacted at jon.roudabush@districtgov.org. The reason I did not hear back from him in writing him is that Florida law prohibits the Board of Supervisors from communicating with residents about Deed Compliance or Architectural Review cases, therefore refer back to step one and submit your complaint to Community Standards above. (Are we having fun yet? 🤪🙄.)
4. The five members of the Board of Supervisors for District 12 and 13 are:
a. Jon Roudabush - jon.roudabush@districtgov.org
b. Ron McMahon - ron.monahan@districtgov.org
c. David Robbins - david.robbins@districtgov.org
d Andrew Bilardello - andrew.bilardello@district.gov
e. Donald E Levens -donald.levens@districtgov.org
With that said, they are having an open public meeting for District 12 and 13 on Thursday July 8th at 1:30 at Everglades Rec Center.
My questions are still these:
1). If the developer is the only one who can enforce deed compliances before a board is put in place, which can’t be done until every property is sold in that village., why hasn’t he been enforcing these major property violations as n this case and others? My neighbor has had letters sent to her in October 2019, January 2020, and now April and June of this year. How many chances do you get? When does an actual resolution and the property cleaned up occur? She also hasn’t paid her taxes as of 2020. She has strung these people along and they actually kept believing her. 🙄.
2). Why can’t the yard be taken care of, the owner billed for the cleanup now and a lien put on the property if failure to pay occurs while all this other paperwork to file a lawsuit against the property is going on? The bottom line is get the property cleaned up immediately.
3). It still mentally is a disconnect for me how those of us can be paying amenities fees, sewage , irrigation fees and such to SSU, which I have learned is a government entity of The Villages, but the developer hasn’t turned us over yet to TV proper. Clearly someone got an F in math class when they talked about the associative property of math where a=b and b=c, therefore a=c. Not in The Villages. 🙄.
4). Why are real estate agents promoting villages south of 44 when there will be no Community Standards for those villages for two years if the developer doesn’t enforce it for them, because no board can be established yet?
Pay attention folks south of 44. Write your complaints to all I’ve given you above. Meanwhile attend that meeting on July 8th.

Exactly! Besides. You buy a house and never heard until now that there was an abandoned for yrs house right next door? You didnt see it? Ask the realtor about it or even question a neighbor? Usually you check the neighborhood especially a run down shack visible next door

Sometimes I think these issues are planted here to get a rise out of people. You cannot possibly be this stupid.

OP, sorry to hear about your problem. It does no good to mention due diligence when purchasing a house now. Abandon, unkept and trashed homes are a problem across the country searching for an answer. There are many reasons and far too many to mention here. Obviously, the place to start is to locate the owner or owners and go from there. Good luck. This happens even in a deed restricted community like The Villages.

Not possible?
 

It couldn’t have been abandoned. The county would make sure to have placed it on its tax roles! You can call the county for details on who pays those taxes.

Abandoned?
 

I lived in New York. Although I was quite familiar with the neighborhood that I moved into, I did not see my house until I closed on it. The realtor sent me pictures of the house, but nothing of the surrounding houses. They could’ve been falling down for all I knew

Ohiobuckeye
 

Super idea Papa! They’ll have to call the owners about how you’re not supposed to put Flamingos in yard, in fact the neighbor should put 10 or 15 in the yard. lMAO, I like your remedy!

Well because it appears they finally found someone willing to buy the house next to the long term "eyesore" and most of all commission.

If its in Amelia, The house you are talking about has been empty for a number of years, a neighbor tried to buy it, no replay, numerous complaints filed, someone did hire a yard man to mow monthly, but being vacant all the years will take its toll eventually, and it seems to be occurring. I write this, because the house across the street from the house has recently been sold.