Sorry to hear about your experience. Great to see someone stand up to try to get the "right thing" done . The frail owners before you were unable. The right thing does not have a time limit. I applaud your effort even though you did not succeed . Bravo!

From another TOTV thread - drinking water is cheaper than irrigation water!

I am not surprised because the VHA representatives do NOT represent us, the home owners, they are shills for the developer/family! Anyone who thinks they get representation by VHA are simply being fooled.

While it might still be a waste of time, you should send copies of all your correspondence to the POA and see if they can do anything for you. Likely not because the "rules" are on the side of the developer! Surprise!

I don't understand why the water company didn't notice this!!! Oh, yes, the water/utility company is part of the developers oversight!! Doesn't our water bill come together with our trash bill and amenity bill????????

This is my only real gripe here. I LOVE living here but the family rarely accepts responsibility even when they should. In your case, Sid, there is a moral obligation to help you out even though not legal obligation. Had the old fellow, Mr. Schwartz, still been alive you would not be going through this. He would have taken care of it and shaken your hand.

The second and third generation don't give a rats' behind about those of us who have already bought a home here and the VHA rep spoke the only truth to you when they said....yes, the family makes a lot of money and I am glad they do!!! That VHA rep is probably employed in some other capacity by the developer and owes their paycheck to them. They won't ever bite the hand that feeds them.

BINGO! Absolutely accurate. The VHA does neat things for TV as a whole, that is, those approved by the developer (plural) which in truth do add to the quality of the find product they are offering to us, but nothing for individuals with issues. Ironically, the VHA rep is a neighbor whom we know socially as well and is indeed employed in another capacity.

I've harped on my issue with the utility company not noticing that a house that should use 4-5,000 gallons of irrigation water used 6-8 times this amount! Similarly, dealing with what could be considered at the time 'only' a goodwill issue rather than a requirement through the warranties we accept when we buy here is similarly beating a dead horse. For a scant amount of money, or even just an acknowledgment, the developer, through their management, could have built goodwill but instead chose not to make an exception, which must be consistent behavior on their part.

By the time I'd posted the original story, I'd long since given up on beating the dead horse. I just wanted to share the story with my fellow villagers in the hope that it could serve even at least one of them with a similar experience with an egregiously high water bill.

Im just reading old threads and found this crazy story. I can understand the management not wanting to admit to anything because that could open a big nasty door for them. Do things like this happen often in the Villages?

Don't you think the word would get out if things like this happen often? 78,000 people can't all be idiots to stay here. It's a wonderful place to live. This is the 2nd "bump up" by you today of threads that have been previously run their course. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but there does seem to be a pattern here.

Regarding the buckling of Carpet, I had the same problem in 2 pieces of property in the Villages,First in a Single Home then in a Courtyard Villa, Many of my friends had the same problem. I think part of the problem is that when they pour the Concrete Slab for the Houses they do not let it cure for a sufficient amount of time,only my opinion. If the Concrete does not dry properly it will create problems. It can create problems when the flooring is put down for eg; Carpet,Vynel,Woodfloor etc. Because onc you put the floor covering down and ther is any moisture left in the concrete it creates a perfect place for mildew to grow. It is dark and Moist. Any Home we built before Moving to the Villages we always let the Concrete cure for at least a week before we started Framing the House. Like I said this is only my personal opinion and I loved Living in the Villages but mabey it is a good idea to ask how long the concrete is allowed to cure before they start building Mabey the rules vary from state to state but in my opinion Concrete is Concrete no matter how you look at it , Good Luck

Actually concrete takes much longer for the water vapor to dissipate. Commercial projects require testing of water vapor transmission before flooring is placed. This can take from 1 to 6 months of drying time. If the slab is still emitting vapors, it can affect carpet and floor tile adhesives.

I am sure that with the rapid construction in The Villages this can become a real problem.

Another thing to find out is if they put in a vapor barrier. Plastic down under the concrete pour keeps moisture from the sand coming in to contact with the concrete.

?
Do you think it would any different in any of the hundreds of other developments in Florida? Or any other state?

I am sure it is not different in many other developments in Florida, a shortcut is just what it implicates; that being said the developer and VHA has an ethical responsiblity to ensure that ALL owners are protected and made to feel that "big brother at least cares." While we all like to point to pride in living here, these bumps in the road make us see the reality and at times it stinks! Mr. Schwartz would not have allowed this to occur, or if so would have had it corrected......PERIOD! Not these losers!

Exception?
 

Maybe we are the exception, but we have had some issues resolved even after living here for several years. The first one was that my kitchen sink kept stopping up. Since our home had long past the year warranty, I called the Warranty Dept. to find out who had done the original plumbing. It was Scott Plumbing and I called them. When the plumber cleaned it out, he said that it was because I had put egg shells through the disposal. I don't, I put them in a bag in the freezer until trash day, which is what I do with whatever might smell up the trash can in the house. He was showing me the debris and what he originally thought were egg shells, but in doing so he discovered that it was actually dry wall. He concluded that the builders had cleaned up in the sink and that was the problem and wrote it off to warranty work. Another time I called the Warranty Dept. to find out who to contact because my shutters had faded out on some of the windows and they told me how to contact Alcoa. Alcoa does not warranty paint, but did advise me on the proper way to paint them. In going through my "Wish Book" to find out which shutters we had (we got to pick out everything for our houses back then) before I contacted Alcoa, I discovered that my lamp post was specified as black and the contractors had installed a white one. When I called the Warranty Dept. back about it, they checked and their records indicated that the post should have indeed been black and sent Price Electric to correct the error the next day. I now have a black post.

As for the way the sprinkler people do things, I was told when we moved in to contact them right away because there was only the 30-day warranty so they would send someone out. I did, but it never happened. They didn't even bother to return my phone calls. My neighbor ended up giving me a spare "key" to adjust the heads and the cover still won't stay on the meter when you open it. Superior Services finally got it programmed like it should be for me and checked/set the heads as part of the yard service I get from them.