I seriously feel it is way past time to review the purposes of the deed restrictions/covenants. I should think they were instituted to create appeal to potential residents and to protect and maintain property values.

Until, perhaps ten years ago, the Community Watch authority had the responsibility to police and enforce any infractions. They, at that time, were "pro-active"....they are now only "reactive". Flowers planted within a certain restricted area would in all probably not be considered sufficient violation in the tenets to require any action. Can you imagine flowers being in conflict with creating appeal and protecting and maintaining property values. Come on...get real. And having deed restrictions policed by trolls. What idiot would think that this is in the best interest of anything? :cus::cus::cus:

Actually - I did see a woman in a golf cart - wearing a Villages "uniform" shirt. It looked like it had been converted into a utility golf cart - maybe a rec center cart? She was ahead of me, going very slowly. She didn't stop at anyone's houses but she would slow down and make some kind of mark with a fat black magic marker on a surface. I couldn't see what it was she was writing on, I only saw the top end of the marker moving in her hand.

This was in the "historic" section. I caught up to her at the Boone Gate, and she was ahead of me on Paradise and up Lauren, where she turned onto West Schwartz.

She would slow down significantly every couple of houses, look at the house, and make a mark before speeding up again.

Maybe not, but 3 rights (turns) make a left!
Root out the weed so the grass can grow.

It would be nice to know who the coward is who doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to talk face to face. It would also significantly reduce frivolous complaints so efforts could be focused on the violations that truly disrupt the neighborhood instead of things like flowers and little white crosses.

Spanish Inquisition? Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Actually, it is kind of like it since you are, in essence, damned if you have or have not "sinned". And no one knows who the real witch is pulling the strings for their own twisted evil.
Snipers can and do cause a lot of harm and concern even among the innocent. Take the weapon of anonymity away, and the concern in the community goes down. Wouldn't you want to know who the child molester, rapist, thief or murderer is that lives in your community?

Selective "enforcement" appears to be just a micro example of the collective wishes of the nation's entire population. When you think about it for more than a second or two. We, as a people, have condoned selective enforcement of laws period; from illegal immigration to common theft, I believe the way many seniors (including myself !) understood "fair and equal enforcement of the law", has evolved due to the many cultural changes (which don't need to be listed on this type of forum of course) we've experienced. Some may think, what has THAT to do with The Villages ignoring enforcement of some while ignoring other violations. But actually, the collective culture of a nation does effect every aspect of life. Combine that with the mental state of various seniors in ANY community, you have a further explanation. People range from a normal concern for their own, and their neighbor's, property values and pride in their surroundings, to those whose cognitive processing has changed over the years, and who now find a purpose, personal satisfaction, in "doing the right thing and protecting their community". This includes what we call "trolls", those who have taken on a personal "mission" and get meaning and satisfaction from it. I've posted previously that we have relatives in similar communities in Florida and in other states... all are experiencing the same phenomenon... selective enforcement with petty violations (flowers, "wrong" color or type of stone/gravel in landscaping, etc.), while age, number of residents residing in a home, lawns completely overgrown in weeds, multiple overflow vehicles on residential streets night after night (perfectly legal but makes life for regular residents very difficult), etc. all "over looked". A "few" communities like ours, very few, but some have actually organized to the extent that they went to the long, involved legal process of changing how enforcement is accomplished, and also setting stricter rules concerning renting one's property. A "string" of rental properties as a business venture, is different from a resident who owns a single property and decides to rent it for the 6 months they might leave the area, but there is nothing to distinguish among those two examples. Nothing solves everything, but there are things that could be changed that would really help. As to changing the personalities of aging, angry, bitter, possibly ill, residents, whose focus is on "nit picking (and "nit picking" has greatly different meanings to different people) on such things as how many inches a flower garden is from something ... well, enough said about priorities...LOL !

While I agree that it is not at all wise to assume any real estate agent puts their personal goals and needs above those of any client, disclosure of "things" an agent knows about a property is simply not going to happen. Just like "we the people" found out we had to have laws require the disclosure of some things (past sink holes, asbestos, and so on), there should be NO controversy over requiring disclosure of deed restriction violations in communities that have them. I can think of few things as "unfair" as innocently purchasing a property, only to be faced with a major expense for something that has existed for 15, 20 years and through 3 or 4 owners. Our present culture is obsessed with equality and fairness, this issue needs some attention again, meaning nation wide.

I agree in principle, but I also feel there is something inherently wrong with citing a home for flowers while ignoring the revolving door flop house air BnB right next door.

I am actually incensed by the use of Deed Restrictions for minor offenses.

I live in a very quiet small village tucked around Glenview GC. Some years ago we had a man and woman move into one of the homes and shortly after they moved in a young woman with a very young child moved in. Then we started to notice different cars arriving at all hours of the day and evening. Then an awful filthy broken recliner appeared on their driveway, followed by a filthy mattress. These items stayed for a couple of weeks. Then broken down cars were parked in their lot on both the grass and driveway. One day, quite recently, they must have done a moonlight flit, the house was then TENTED for several days, torn apart and put back on the market at a very high asking price.
When have you ever seen a home in TV TENTED?

Their immediate neighbors and the surrounding neighborhood had to put up with this and The Villages did nothing. So much for Deed Restrictions.

Interesting how one district has little if any restrictions and others have a long list of restrictions. Personally, at my age I enjoy homes that are personalized and not cookie cutter, military style homes. I may not care for some of my neighbor's preferences, but I really don't think it is any of my business as to what makes them happy, as long as it does not offend me. I have not seen any trucks or old cars on blocks or toilet flower planters, but even those might look OK if done right. Point is that I believe in live and let live at this juncture of my life. I've seen everything here in the Villages, including landscape edging consisting of beer bottles and a cast iron pig. Just stay off of my lawn, especially with your dog that wishes to use my lawn as a toilet instead of yours. Pick up your trash that might blow on my property and we will all be fine.
If you have a complaint about my landscaping, please feel free to complain to my face. I am not going to get violent with anyone that does not like my style. If I feel that your complaint is valid I'm willing to make modifications. Personally, I don't give a rat's @&& if others do not like my style. And I do not care what my neighbors do with their home as long as what they do does not purposely bother me. As far as I am concerned, deed restrictions are there as a tool to keep folks from going to the extreme. And yes, if I don't like it here, I will move. Or, if you don't like my home then you can move.

I have seen situations where an overgrown tree has branches that were blocking the view of a 4-way stop sign. That is a SAFETY HAZZARD and needs to be written up. Eventually, those branches were cut by the Villages, I guess, but it took a long time to get that fixed. There are a lot of plants, trees, and vegetation in TV Land that can get overgrown and cause sight hazards and safety problems.
......That is why I lean toward anonymous reporting of these problems. Some "ticky-tacky" problems will be written up, but also many legitimate problems will get fixed. The powers that do the deciding can filter out which are worthwhile and which are not.

Very few people would take the time and effort to knock on a neighbor's door and say that there is something about your property that I don't think meets the neighborhood standards. They would likely say, "What do YOU care, are you some kind of busybody". Then the door likely would get slammed.
.......Either a representative of a Village needs to do the knocking on of the door. Or there needs to be an anonymous write-up system. The anonymous write-up system would be less costly because it involves volunteers.

Safety hazards should be reported and no one should be afraid of having their name associated with doing a public service. It is the use of what should be a public service to randomly, like a roadside shooter picking on random cars, harass individuals from behind the shield of anonymity. That's where the problem is. The Troll, for lack of a real name, has demonstrated by the number of failed complaints that he/she/it/they are doing this for harassment and NOT for any positive motive.

I have seen houses in TV Land tented for excessive ROACHES. Florida has tons more insect problems than "up north".

And this attitude is the very reason there are deed restrictions. There are none among us unless maybe on the far north side, who did not sign off on their district deed restrictions. Just because you "don't give a rat's ass" doesn't mean others don't. And disagreements should ALWAYS be settled in favor of the folks who follow the agreed-upon standards.

It's not just YOUR business, it is everyone's business in the district.

And by the way, keeping dogs off your lawn is not a right you have by deed restriction. But you want to impose your will apparently. You sound like the last guy I'd want to complain to face-to-face based on your comments.

Have a nice day.