[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

If a landlord of a reasonable rental unit wants guest passes for his tenants, I have no issues with it. They already pay a fee to get them. I would recommend a limit, like 4 per month. That's enough for a monthly renter and their occasional visitors. Seems reasonable to me.

Now if you're talking about new tenants every weekend or several times a week, then I'm not in support of guest pass issuance for these folks.

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Not semantics at all. The assertion was that because the rec center employees always entered the data they would be able to see who was “abusing” the system. I doubt it would be that simple but since the rec center employees DO NOT always enter the information they would not be able to identify “abusers.”

If I sit at home and enter the information then have my guests pick up their own passes the rec center employees don’t see a familiar face come in every third day. They might notice a lot of passes under my name but I can always vary the pickup points to avoid that.

Poster #2 above is completely missing the more important point. It’s not about how the database is populated, it’s about the information contained within the database.

Consider two residents that both have a history of 200 guest passes.

Resident one’s 200 guest passes were for a total of 20 people, who each visited the villages 10 different times over the last 8 years.

Resident two’s guest passes were for 196 different people over the last 10 months.

Which one of these residents appears to be having family members and friends occasionally visit, and which resident is very obviously running a short term revolving door business out of their home? The answer is about as obvious as it gets!

[VAtoFLA]

If it's the boogeyman landlord that you are after, a hard limit is the only way. They will just pass the $10 to the tenant. Problem with a hard limit is when a non-landlord villager hits that limit and then simply can't have guests.

This is all a made up problem to me. None of it will reduce our amenity fee and guests, while they certainly have impact on the amenities don't impact them substantially. The vast majority of amenity cost and maintenance are fixed costs.

[Normal]

Originally Posted by VAtoFLA

If it's the boogeyman landlord that you are after, a hard limit is the only way. They will just pass the $10 to the tenant. Problem with a hard limit is when a non-landlord villager hits that limit and then simply can't have guests.

This is all a made up problem to me. None of it will reduce our amenity fee and guests, while they certainly have impact on the amenities don't impact them substantially. The vast majority of amenity cost and maintenance are fixed costs.

I disagree with your assessment. But you have a right to an opinion.

Wear and Tear is a cost and a mathematical absolute. Additional users do cost additional funds. Extra money collected can offset costs.

There is nothing wrong with charging a landlord who exploits the loopholes of an antiquated system for their own personal gain.

Most of us could care less if a landlord has to charge a higher price for their rental. All of us should care about our neighbors who have problems with the current amenity fee or costs.

[Radrxman]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I like the idea. How many residents, who aren’t running a short term rental business out of their home, would need more than 20 guest passes per year. We typically get about 6-8 passes per year, and have never needed more than 10.

Owners of rental homes and winter residents actually subsidize the amenity fees for homeowners who live here year round. We pay amenity fees every month even if the home is empty. You are welcome.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by VAtoFLA

This is less about the actual cost of guests and more about appearing to "fight the landlord" and the legend of the AirBNB nightmare. I don't know the stats, maybe someone here does, but of all guest passes issued, how many are every actually used (scanned)? I've had about 10 passes in the last year and I think one of the guests used one putting course once.

The notion of the bad guys using our amenities and driving up the costs is more about keeping them for ourselves and less about real cost increase. The friendliest community really just doesn't want to share because they resent the monthly fee they signed up for.

None of it impacts me too much.

Originally Posted by VAtoFLA

If it's the boogeyman landlord that you are after, a hard limit is the only way. They will just pass the $10 to the tenant. Problem with a hard limit is when a non-landlord villager hits that limit and then simply can't have guests.

This is all a made up problem to me. None of it will reduce our amenity fee and guests, while they certainly have impact on the amenities don't impact them substantially. The vast majority of amenity cost and maintenance are fixed costs.

Is that a denial that SOME short term rentals are a problem? Because we have heard from those living next to an "imaginary nightmare" what their lives have turned into. I can also guess that those two posts suggest a perspective from someone who runs STR's.

From my perspective, a friend or family member who stays in my home FOR FREE is a guest. Someone who is paying to stay is a RENTER. I would simply deny guest passes to any RENTER who is staying less than 30 days and end the "AirBNB nightmare."

[Happydaz]

Best to end short term rentals. One month should be the minimum rental duration. We can do this. Many communities have banned short term rentals.

[Rocksnap]

Here’s a novel thought. Full time residents are not having that many guests.
As for renters, charge ALL renters a fee regardless of length of stay.
There is no reason why us full timers should be inconvenienced with so many outsiders. And we will be.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by Normal

The guest passes review workshop is coming up.

https://www.**************.com/2025/...-the-villages/

“Excessive use of Villages guest passes sparked discussion at a meeting Wednesday of the Amenity Authority Committee.

A review recommending revised fees and operating policies related to recreation, community watch and facilities in The Villages is scheduled for completion this fall.

The review will recommend additional ways to offset operating and maintenance costs…..”

This will be a great way to keep our amenity fees in check! Let the first 20 passes be free and then charge an additional 10 dollars for each pass after that in a given year. The additional funds required to take care of guests could be used to keep our amenity fees from climbing.

The guest pass system costs plenty, and so do the people who monitor the recreation centers and pools and check ID cards. I disagree about twenty free guest passes a year. I’d say $10 for EACH guest pass for all of us. That’s pretty much what guest passes cost Villagers through our amenities fees. I don’t mind paying $10 for a guest pass if someone comes to visit me.

It would be nice if we could also charge $5 or $10 to those without an ID card or guest pass to get into the enclosed areas where the bands play. But I know that wouldn’t work. Self-defeating.

[Mrfriendly]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

I get guest passes so my visiting friends can get the better resident golf rates at the Championship golf courses, which are not amenities paid for by residents. That being said, I do support the floated idea of limiting free guest passes to 20 per year as a deterrent to revolving door short term rentals.

Perhaps golf only guest passes would be free and those passes would not be able to enter rec centers, pools, wood shops etc? Or, does getting guest passes to reduce golf fees hurt the rest of us? Generate income vs generate less income.
Either way guests I would think help to stimulate our bars and Resturant economy.
Hmmm. 🤔

[gwenhwalker@yahoo.com]

Guests are not allowed in sport pools

[VAtoFLA]

Originally Posted by Normal

I disagree with your assessment. But you have a right to an opinion.

Right on. Yours is also a right. We don't have to agree and it seems like we don't here.

Wear and Tear is a cost and a mathematical absolute. Additional users do cost additional funds. Extra money collected can offset costs.

On this we agree. Wear and tear is a real thing. I'm just saying that it is not substantial compared to the fixed cost portion of the cost.

There is nothing wrong with charging a landlord who exploits the loopholes of an antiquated system for their own personal gain.

Most of us could care less if a landlord has to charge a higher price for their rental. All of us should care about our neighbors who have problems with the current amenity fee or costs.

Definitely nothing wrong with it. My point is you aren't charging the landlord, the guest will pay it so it will do nothing (or very little) to dissuade renting and will increase the cost for your non-renting neighbors to have guests.

[VAtoFLA]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Is that a denial that SOME short term rentals are a problem? Because we have heard from those living next to an "imaginary nightmare" what their lives have turned into. I can also guess that those two posts suggest a perspective from someone who runs STR's.

From my perspective, a friend or family member who stays in my home FOR FREE is a guest. Someone who is paying to stay is a RENTER. I would simply deny guest passes to any RENTER who is staying less than 30 days and end the "AirBNB nightmare."

I've weighed in on it before. Everything I hear is about the proverbial friend that experienced some problem. I think problems should and can be handled individually. I don't see a proliferation of nightmare AirBNB rentals and parties. I see a ton of worry about them.

You can guess anything you want but if you kept score on your lifetime guesses I bet you are wrong more than you are right. My two posts simply indicate that I don't see a huge problem with guest pass use and I don't see a huge problem with rentals in The Villages. I just see a lot of worry about them. For me, the Amenity fee is what I bargained for when I bought, the increases are based on CPI. When I use facilities, I am able to use them and the others there are treating everything respectfully.

For this issue, if I had a vote, today that vote would be to leave it how it is. Others feel differently.

[VAtoFLA]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

It would be nice if we could also charge $5 or $10 to those without an ID card or guest pass to get into the enclosed areas where the bands play. But I know that wouldn’t work. Self-defeating.

Music in the squares is not a Villages Amenity. It's open to the public. I *think*, but someone smarter than me can chime in, that it is paid for by the merchants and possibly subsidized through some county tourism grants.

[La lamy]

I think a limit on guest passes per household is a great idea for mitigating short term rentals. My guess is 10 passes per year. No extras at any cost, or else it'd still be too easy to put that cost onto short term visitors.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Velvet

I don’t care how they enter the data, but guest passes should not be free and they should be time limited daily or weekly. If the guest doesn’t use it, they shouldn’t get one in the first place. I don’t buy a ticket to the movies IF I’m not going to go.

Where can you use their facilities for free for a whole month? This idea was introduced (most likely) as a way of advertising TV when it wasn’t well known. We no longer need this form of advertising. We can go to normal behavior like other venues.

Here's an idea, piggybacking on your comments:

The Rec dept. can sell guest passes for registered guests for $10/week, or $25/month, per person. If a pass ends up not being used, then the money is refunded. If it's used even once, no refund. And all guest passes must be presented with a photo ID, so someone can't just use someone else's guest pass to get away with free amenity use. That would need to be actively enforced. That means if some unknown people are in the pool and the ID checker person comes by, they can order those people to get out of the pool and show their ID. If they refuse, the police can be called.