[drpepper]

We have had our home in Sable Chase for sale by owner for about a week. We have had open houses with the small signs with an arrow placed on Canal, Ridgeville Rd. And Duffy Loop leading to our home. We asked the home owners permission to place our signs on their lawns. Everyday we were missing 2 or more signs. They were only up for about 2 hours and 10 minutes. Saturday my wife saw a fellow that drives a Villages Watch truck taking some signs but not all of them. When she questioned him he said that the District was cracking down and not allowing any signs of any kind on The Villages easement and anyone with a sign on their lawn and not on the easement would be fined. He said he had called in and reported this to the district office and the people that had allowed us to place signs on their lawn were going to be fined but not us. He wouldn't let my wife have our signs back but told her she would have to pick them up at the district office on Bonita pass. Later in the day I went to the office to retrieve our signs but they weren't there. A supervisor saw me looking threw several signs and asked if I needed help. I explained the situation to him and he confirmed what we were told by the driver. While I was talking to him the driver pulled in and started unloading signs which included ours. I noticed that the driver pulled in to the parking lot from the east on Bonita pass. I asked him why he took our signs but left the exact sign as ours that he passed at the corner of Canal and Bonita pass which was on the golf course property at the s.e. corner. His answer was that he didn't have time to get all the signs. I left the office and followed the signs to an open house by a realtor. I asked if they had had any signs taken and they said no. I'm going to the district office Monday to try and get an answer but it seemed strange to me that realtor signs weren't taken. Has anyone else experienced this kind of treatment?

[Love2Swim]

Just curious - was it an outside realtor or one of the Villages salespeople?

[Marathon Man]

Well, if he didn't have time to get them all, then maybe it's time to remind everyone that signs are not allowed. After all, a rule that is never enforced is not really a rule.

[buzzy]

I saw a Community Watch guy remove a garage sale sign on St Charles Pl on Friday morning.

[NotGolfer]

When we moved here 10 yrs ago we did some garage sale-ing. Back then someone had a sale sign in their yard and a Villages truck stopped by and asked them to remove it as it wasn't allowed. Back then balloons could be placed to show where the sales were but also folks placed ads in the local paper as well as in social media. Since then I see more and more signs (garage sale and for sale by owner) being placed. IF the community watch guy told you they were cracking down perhaps they are. I'd take it up with the "powers that be" rather than on social media sites, on how this is handled or should be handled. JMHO

[drpepper]

It was an outside realtor but The Villages used the same sign on canal and Pendleton Circle for a few weeks. The only difference was the tip of the sign had reflective paint sprayed on it. It was placed by a stop sign which we were told we couldn't do. I also agree that those may be the rules but in 6 years I've not seen them enforced.

[blueash]

Wait wait wait. Haven't we been told over and over that Community Watch only enforces things in our lawns and gardens when there is a complaint presented. And that the Watch itself is not able to be looking for violations and confronting homeowners without such a complaint? So now you are being told that objects on lawns in fact can be seen and acted upon by Community Watch. And that not only do they see them, they remove them without notice and will directly issue fines?
What happened to the you have 72 hours to come into compliance before a fine is issued standard? This is a whole new can of worms.

And I wonder where this new directive originated. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with your FSBO signage competing with any other organization that is involved in home sales. That would be an unreasonable and unsupported allegation.

[retiredguy123]

Some outside realtors and FSBOs violate the "for sale" sign rule all the time. The rule is that you can only have one sign no larger than 12 inches behind a glass window. I think The Villages follows the rule, but many outside realtors and FSBOs have two signs, one in the window and another one on the garage, and both signs exceed the size limit.

[bagboy]

Unbelievable!!! If I was informed by a watch driver on two different occasions and a district supervisor that I was not allowed to put out signs, I would probably have to think that I was not allowed to put out signs. And I most likely not put the signs back out.

[Velvet]

Not sure if it was allowed but someone put up an eye sore sign on a Mallory lawn advertising something. It was there for two whole days, looked like something scribbled by a grade two child. We were just watching to see what would happen but then we had to leave all of a sudden so maybe it is still there.

[vintageogauge]

I'm pretty sure that community watch is instructed to remove signs advertising garage sales or open houses if not on the lot where the sale is taking place.

[Ben Franklin]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Some outside realtors and FSBOs violate the "for sale" sign rule all the time. The rule is that you can only have one sign no larger than 12 inches behind a glass window. I think The Villages follows the rule, but many outside realtors and FSBOs have two signs, one in the window and another one on the garage, and both signs exceed the size limit.

Unless they changed the rules, when we were looking at homes this past May, we saw Flag signs about 6 feet tall on both sides of the drive-way by TV Real Estate agents.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Ben Franklin

Unless they changed the rules, when we were looking at homes this past May, we saw Flag signs about 6 feet tall on both sides of the drive-way by TV Real Estate agents.

That is for an open house and is only there for 2 hours. The rule I cited is for the "for sale" sign allowed on the house. Two different rules.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by bagboy

Unbelievable!!! If I was informed by a watch driver on two different occasions and a district supervisor that I was not allowed to put out signs, I would probably have to think that I was not allowed to put out signs. And I most likely not put the signs back out.

Yep, just because some people don't get a ticket for driving backwards down the FL TPKE at 140mph that it is OK. It's OK until (generic) you gets busted then you whine that no one else got caught and it ain't fair.

[mtdjed]

I am starting to wonder how much power Community Watch really has. I've seen them request folks having parties require attendees to park on one side only. if the roads really belong to the county, how can they "demand" any thing regarding street parking? Also, if a sign is on some ones property, how can they legally remove the sign?

Point of interest, some homeowners never had to sign any restrictive covenants. On a resale, does the sale require that the covenants need to be followed to the new buyer? I comply with the covenants but do not recall having to sign any agreement at the closing since I was not there.