[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Robbie0723

Home inspectors may be missing an opportunity, offer to also inspect the property for compliance issues for an extra charge to cover their time to review the restrictions on the property.

Very true

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

What are you asking the buyers to do? Someone from out of the area is presented with an acceptable inspection report and a completed title search as part of a large stack of papers to sign. They don't know the area, they don't know what a CDD is or how they are put together, they don't know about ARC, they don't know about Community Standards, and they don't know about the complaint process. To me, it is asking too much of them to know to read the deed restrictions in detail and research what has or has not been approved for their house.

What I would like to see:
- Prior to closing, realtors advise buyers of the deed restrictions and the need to ensure there are no violations on the property they are purchasing
- Home inspections include a section covering deed compliance for the particular District
- Community Standards review the exterior of homes being sold and alert the seller, buyer, and realtor of any compliance issues
- Anything that exists when the home is sold is grandfathered as if approved and not subject to a complaint in the future.

Yes, there are problems with this, but it seems more reasonable than asking an unsuspecting buyer to do in-depth research or ask an owner to spend thousands to fix a violation that was present when they purchased the home 20 years ago.

Research. All the information any potential buy is available on-line. People will spend more time researching new car reviews than they will looking into what a deed restricted community will mean to them.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Research. All the information any potential buy is available on-line. People will spend more time researching new car reviews than they will looking into what a deed restricted community will mean to them.

Please point me to where I can find what ARC requests have been approved for my home.

Please point to where the 83 year old woman could have researched to find that her sidewalk was not part of the original home and where she too could have found (or not found) the ARC approval.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Please point me to where I can find what ARC requests have been approved for my home.

Please point to where the 83 year old woman could have researched to find that her sidewalk was not part of the original home and where she too could have found (or not found) the ARC approval.

Same answer to both issues. The information is available to you and to her. I have done it. I found out that my first villa, which had an all rock yard, did not have an approval for the replacement of sod with rock. You just have to want to find it.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Same answer to both issues. The information is available to you and to her. I have done it. I found out that my first villa, which had an all rock yard, did not have an approval for the replacement of sod with rock. You just have to want to find it.

I thought I indicated my desire to find the information by requesting the site from someone who claims to know where it exists.

So again, please point me to where I can find (or not find) ARC approvals associated with my home.

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by wereback

I have never understood why so many people are against someone filing a lawful compliant for a deed compliance issue. If you read the papers you legally were required to sign it is what you must do to be a good villager. Years ago it was the job of neighborhood watch not sure why they stopped. Guess to much for them to do. I myself don't want this to become a community of anything someone puts in front of their house to be okay. I'm sure many of the loudest of you would soon change your mind when your next door neighbor started to fix up junk cars.

I think you miss the point of some of the backlash about the clipoard ladies. (I assume this is what you are refering to.). Mentioning to a neighbor that their old junker on blocks in their front yard is a code violation, then reporting them if they don't remedy the situation isn't really the issue, imo. Deciding to become Captain Clipboard the pen of Justice, going throughout TV writing up any and every believed violation is not what most people would consider normal behaviour. Indeed, they may think some twisted vengence nut is wandering through TV and wanting to make everyone else as miserable as they must be. The Captain becomes a nuisance, like a self-proclaimed police officer calling for police backup as they prowl the city looking for any and every thing that might or might not actually be an infraction. The Captain Clipboard is no longer a helpful citizen, he/she has become a vigilante muckraker or witch hunter, creating an air of consternation over who might be spying on us and what might they report about us. Captain Clipboard needs another hobby. May I suggest golf. The good Captain could report those who didn't replace their divots, didn't rake the sand properly or walked in someone's line when putting. I'm sure all the golfers would love the help in improving their life on the course.
Just a thought.

[Shbullet]

Originally Posted by wereback

When you buy anything one of the first things you need to do is check the history, If you don't anything that turns up is yours and only your fault. That is so very CLEAR.

So, my understanding of your comment is if a tree was planted on the property years ago without approval, your statement suggests that the buyer could avoid responsibly for the non-compliance by checking history prior to buying. Can you explain how one would go about checking every tree for compliance before buying...

How about every bush? etc etc

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

What are you asking the buyers to do? Someone from out of the area is presented with an acceptable inspection report and a completed title search as part of a large stack of papers to sign. They don't know the area, they don't know what a CDD is or how they are put together, they don't know about ARC, they don't know about Community Standards, and they don't know about the complaint process. To me, it is asking too much of them to know to read the deed restrictions in detail and research what has or has not been approved for their house.

What I would like to see:
- Prior to closing, realtors advise buyers of the deed restrictions and the need to ensure there are no violations on the property they are purchasing
- Home inspections include a section covering deed compliance for the particular District
- Community Standards review the exterior of homes being sold and alert the seller, buyer, and realtor of any compliance issues
- Anything that exists when the home is sold is grandfathered as if approved and not subject to a complaint in the future.

Yes, there are problems with this, but it seems more reasonable than asking an unsuspecting buyer to do in-depth research or ask an owner to spend thousands to fix a violation that was present when they purchased the home 20 years ago.

Your Community Standards Review before a sale idea is worth considering. However, there is a much-overused legal term (now a cliché appearing on hundreds of TV programs) called “due diligence” that comes into play. Due diligence is paying attention and doing your homework to the extent you can fairly be expected to. In this case, due diligence means a prospective buyer here finding out easily-discovered things in advance.

Thus, if you think you’d like to buy a home in The Villages, due diligence includes the following:
Reading two or three of the little books about The Villages available from Amazon. A large percentage of questions asked here are answered there. This really helps cut down on surprises.
Watching a bunch of YouTube videos about The Villages.
Reading the community rules and deed restrictions for the district where you will live. (They are nearly the same from district to district, but there are differences.) This information is readily available on the website for The Villages.
Reading Talk of the Villages for a few months to get more of a feel for what we are like here.

If you haven’t done these things before buying here, perhaps you shouldn’t be buying here. As for signing a paper agreeing to deed restrictions one hasn’t even read, that is breathtakingly (fill in the blank). Really? What if you just promised your firstborn child as a sacrifice? What if you just agreed to forfeit your home if you break a rule? What if you just agreed to pay 50% of your profits when you sell to a communal kitty? If you don’t agree to the restrictions, there are homes within a few miles of here that don’t have them. Go buy one of those!

[Gray lady of the sea]

Thank you !!! I couldn't agree more

[sallyg]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

What are you asking the buyers to do? Someone from out of the area is presented with an acceptable inspection report and a completed title search as part of a large stack of papers to sign. They don't know the area, they don't know what a CDD is or how they are put together, they don't know about ARC, they don't know about Community Standards, and they don't know about the complaint process. To me, it is asking too much of them to know to read the deed restrictions in detail and research what has or has not been approved for their house.

What I would like to see:
- Prior to closing, realtors advise buyers of the deed restrictions and the need to ensure there are no violations on the property they are purchasing
- Home inspections include a section covering deed compliance for the particular District
- Community Standards review the exterior of homes being sold and alert the seller, buyer, and realtor of any compliance issues
- Anything that exists when the home is sold is grandfathered as if approved and not subject to a complaint in the future.

Yes, there are problems with this, but it seems more reasonable than asking an unsuspecting buyer to do in-depth research or ask an owner to spend thousands to fix a violation that was present when they purchased the home 20 years ago.

Agree 100%!

[MDLNB]

Someone asked me a legitimate question recently. They asked me, if one person received permission for a stone border around their tree in their front yard, and their neighbor did not, but both used the same folks at the same time to install their border; why would the one without permission be ordered to remover theirs, when it is identical to their neighbor's? The answer, which some could suggest is ludicrous, is that the one neighbor did not get permission. On the other hand, their yard was in compliance. So, why would they have to remove the landscaping, if the yard would be OK if they had obtained permission? And I am not saying anything about any form of deviation to the landscaping, exact replica of their neighbors.
This is where it is totally ridiculous when folks get crazy with their "well rules are rules." If I purchased that home that had not received permission, but the yard was in compliance I would be pretty ticked off if I was told to remove the landscaping modification.
Now, a resident takes a ride into the older area of TV and sees folks in a neighborhood that have lawn ornaments. They do not know that the district they are looking at, has no specification or deed restriction regarding lawn ornaments. They go home and find a notice on their door (or in the mail, or someone comes to the door with it) that says their little frog ornament has to go. But, but, but rules are rules. Just about ALL rules are flexible. Even laws broken are flexible. Ask any judge if they have to give exact sentences to violators or do they have the discretion to be lenient. To say that there are no exceptions is hogwash and any sensible person realizes that. Before someone says that being flexible would mean abandoned vehicles on blocks in yards would be a result of someone being lenient, I say that is utter hogwash, too.

[Gmaf6]

I'd like to know how the homes on Marsh Bend Trail in DeLuna feel about that monstrosity of an RV garage being built right in their back yard? How on earth did that get approved?

[fdpaq0580]

Originally Posted by Gmaf6

I'd like to know how the homes on Marsh Bend Trail in DeLuna feel about that monstrosity of an RV garage being built right in their back yard? How on earth did that get approved?

Follow the thread titled "Buyers Beware".

[merrymini]

The thing that amazes me is the time people take to write these long winded diatribes. More amazing that people have the time to read them!

[MollyJo]

Originally Posted by wereback

I have never understood why so many people are against someone filing a lawful compliant for a deed compliance issue. If you read the papers you legally were required to sign it is what you must do to be a good villager. Years ago it was the job of neighborhood watch not sure why they stopped. Guess to much for them to do. I myself don't want this to become a community of anything someone puts in front of their house to be okay. I'm sure many of the loudest of you would soon change your mind when your next door neighbor started to fix up junk cars.

Nitpicking is one thing, cars parked on a lawn, jacked up vehicles being repaired in driveways, lime green/pink/purple front doors or garage doors/gutters, dogs running off leash chasing people trying to walk their dogs on a leash…these are problems that would make me move from a neighborhood. I am hoping my future move to TV will eliminate all of these issues.