Thanks for the info, Beachbum.

Do you know of anyone who had to complain about a person violating one of the Deed Restrictions for their neighborhood? If so, was their complaint taken seriously and addressed properly?

This is a city of over 100,000 people with a VERY low crime rate, probably lower than Fairfax County, Virginia. I have googled pictures of homes in your area and there are many huge and very expensive mansions, and as I stated before you live in the area of the country with the highest per capita income. I am guessing that you can afford to come here and to rent for six months or so and get some first hand information, because all you will get by asking on this forum is opinions from a lot of opinionated people like me.


If you purchased a home here and found that it wasn't to your liking and things weren't up to your standards, you could sell it fairly easily and most likely make a profit. (If it is new you would have to wait a year to make that profit, the deed restrictions don't allow people to flip a new home) We do have rules and they are enforced and after being warned people will get fined. Deed restrictions are reported by villagers and can be done by phone anonymously and yes people do it and people do get fined. The deed restrictions are more stringent south of 466 and on the west side north of 466. If you rented here you would do as we do and drive around and see where there are a lot of lawn ornaments and choose to live there if you like that freedom.


Most people are the responsible, law abiding folks that our age seems to promote, but there are always some stinkers. To me, The Villages is very beautiful and well kept and well ordered but it certainly isn't as posh as some areas in southern Florida. I like that even better, my rural roots fit in just fine.


I wish you luck in your quest for information but I think you need to do it boots on the ground here.

Thanks very, very much for pointing that out.

No, we do not like areas with freedom. We have seen too many homeowners do stupid and tasteless things to their houses, which affect the home values of their neighbors.

We only visited for a few days two weeks ago, but we got the same impression - beautifully maintained but not posh - and that REALLY appealed to us. We have seen other places in Florida where we could possibly afford a nicer house, but I always ask, "What would my wife and I do day in and day out?" At The Villages, the answer seems pretty clear: get involved in activities, meet people with similar interests, and enjoy life. Even learn line dancing.

By the way, your post where you summarized this thread was very good.

You would definitely love The Villages. Great friendly people (GracieGirl), loads of things to do, and just a wonderful place to be.

The deed restrictions are too much for some people, some others go out of their way to seek out and report deed restrictions. Almost everyone complies but there are always a few out of a large population that do not want to comply.

I am from the DC 'burbs as well and you could not drag me back there now!

Too many to list and "taken seriously and addressed properly" is a matter of interpretation anyway. Doing a search here on TOTV might get you an inkling of success/failure.

If their dog bites one of your service people AND is off leash that's a solution to your problem a sad one for sure. Best of luck with this. I wouldn't give up with Animal Control and ask what the next step would be. I don't know the ins and outs of Animal Control and laws but I would think they could do something before there's a biting issue, etc. I wish the owners could get fined. That's something they would understand!:mad: