My understanding is that the Villages only acts upon complaints in these cases. The Community Watch does not report any violations.

The other issue is that when these homes are abandoned or in limbo, who does the Villages bill for these services? The owners are dead. The bank cannot take ownership and the heirs are denying ownership.

the key word in each of these documents seems to be the work 'may'. nothing requires anyone to do anything! the other issue might be found in your identification of 'other locations'.

the Declaration of Restrictions for my area in the historic district [obg/unit 6 - same as op, i think] indicate:
"2.6 it shall be the responsibility of the owners to keep their lots neat and clean and the grass cut and edged at all times. if an owner does not adhere to this regulation, then the work may be performed on behalf of the owner by the developer and the cost shall be charged to the owner."
and
from the Lady Lake Deed Restriction Matrix and Fine Schedule:
"E) Compliance Mechanisms The Board hereby adopts by this Rule, which includes "Exhibit C", a;; Compliance Mechanisms contained in the Deed Restrictions that apply to the external appearances or uses of Homesites. Such Compliance Mechanisms include but are not limited to:
i) if the owner does not adhere to the Deed Restrictions regarding keeping the Homesite neat and clean and the grass cut and edged then the work may be performed on behalf of the Owner by the Districe, but the District shall not be obligated to perform such work, and the cost shall be charged to the Owner."

Someone mentioned the owners had died, so these homes may be tied up in court, because of no will

This thread is a general discussion of the homes that have fallen into disrepair in TV. Everyone is giving examples of what MAY be the case. Some have mentioned reverse mortgages, foreclosure, bankruptcy, death of owners, bank owned, etc. Several people have asked for the addresses of these homes. Directions have been given and people have drove around and could not find the homes in question. I have no doubt that the OP is very concerned about the situation and wants to get something done about it, but without addresses, it is hard for others to help.

Mortgages sold to other Institutions
 

Mack: You are correct many of these mortgages made by the branch banks you mentioned most likely were sold to other institutions. Some of this banks may not make loans for manufactured homes. I understand that Citizens does finance homes in the historical district and does hold the mortgage.

Some of these do not have house numbers. I have given directions as best I can and given street names. I will do it again if necessary.

Jeffery Dr after you come through the gate. there are only 4 houses on that street so it's easy to spot. Right hand side, 2nd house. This one is the one the neighbor's thought squatters were living in for awhile. Next, as you turn right off of Ann on to Mark, the yellow house on the left right as you turn. has white notices in the windows. Kelsea Circle..turn right off of Kelsea Ct. Straight ahead to the blue house with all the old furniture piled under the carport...there are 3-4 notices in the window. 3 houses down from that is the abandoned yellow house where the strong odors are coming out the windows. The guy that cuts the grass uses an electric mower so he has a key to plug it in inside. He told me when he opens the door, he has to wear a mask because of the odor.

When I get time, I will TRY to get house numbers if they exist but I know that many of these do not have numbers anymore. These are just the houses that I pass on the way home everyday.

i believe that the house on ann ave [if it is #1024] was sold last fall. i know that i saw a golf cart and car there this past winter. and it seems that they did quite a bit of exterior property maintenance all thru the winter. the exterior of the house was washed at least once and a good deal of the mold was removed; and i believe shrubs were trimmed, too. that lawn is gonna be tough to bring back because of the lack of sunlight that gets thru the trees - that was one of the reasons for the mold on the mark dr side, too.

prop tax records show new owners as residents of mt. dora - and they got a he** of a deal! strange that the tax record shows it owned by fannie mae?

That PROBABLY means it has been thru foreclosuee, and the bank has called on fannie mae to pay them off...fannie mae insuers a lot of bank loans.

We have a home on our block that is being managed by a management company... whenever they feel like coming out. The water is off so there is no lawn, I've complained to everyone and nothing will be done, so much for deed compliance.

A house on the street my parents lived on in southern Fla went vacant the owner owned it outright had died and no one new who to notify. The county eventually took it for unpaid taxes but it sat empty for years. The homeowners assn. did the yard and painted the place and filed a lien against the property for the cost. It was the only thing the neighbors could figure to do while the thing sat empty. When it sold at auction the new owners had a surprise when they went to clear title as there was a sizable lean held by the HOA for the monthly maint bills that had gone unpaid.

Just a thought would this work? The address of the owners is on the county tax website. I just checked to make sure the person I was renting from owned the place and their billing address was clearly listed. I would send a letter threatening legal action signed by the neighbors to the owner. Maybe the owner doesn't know that the management company is doing a bad job.

I took a ride by Jeffrey, Ann and Mark today. The house on Jeffrey does look like it's abandoned. There is a branch sticking out of the gutter but it doesn't look that bad. 1024 Ann is occupied and it looks like a lot of work has been done there. The one on Mark has a non-compliance notice on the door from the City of Lady Lake. There is a date for a hearing so something is being done. None of these houses really are falling down or have trash piled up around them. The lawns don't look very good, but I see that in houses that are occupied. They look like they could use a coat of paint, but if I wasn't told that they were in foreclosure I wouldn't have noticed.
I'm sure that this is a bit of a problem here in Silver Lake just like it is all over the Villages and all over the country, but the description by the OP would lead someone to believe that this is a horrible, run down, unlivable neighborhood and that is simply not the case. Like I said, the are a few of these houses here and there. The vast majority of the houses in Silver Lake are well maintained and very attractive. I am proud of my beautiful neighborhood.

Is the CDD responsible to go after the amenities fees when the home finally gets out of "whatever" and there is a new owner? Just wonder how this form of government (CDD) is going to work. This Thread is serendipity and bringing up a lot of questions!! When you live in a city, you know who to approach to get something done. In a Legal HOA with legal powers you know how to deal with such issues too.......

Sure...do that. And if those people have even the slightest means, their lawyer will turn around and come after Y-O-U the neighbors for harassment and anything else that they can think up. Are you collectively ready for that?? I hate to tell you but just like every other place in America there are empty houses that have been foreclosed on and unfortunately they are left rotting. Not a lot you can do about it. It even happens in the faux-nirvana of The Villages. Deal with it.

Do you have this problem where you live in Stonecrest?

MY POINT WAS MAYBE THE OWNERS DON'T KNOW THE MANAGEMENT COMPANY ISN'T DOING THEIR JOB. Making a home owner aware of a problem is not harassment and neither is informing one that they are not in deed compliance. If they can't afford to have the water on they sure can't afford a lawyer. It was just a suggestion JEEEZ.

I have never seen an "abandoned" house in Stonecrest. I have seen some that have been empty and for sale for some time but I am not aware of a single "broken window" house.

JEEEZ..Nothing! Your post said nothing of "informing" a home owner. You specifically talked about sending a group letter threatening legal action. That is NOT "informing". As they used to say in the old west.."Them's fightin' words". And that's the kind of answer you're going to get. "Informing" would be sending a friendly letter to a neighor saying "I'm not sure if you know this, but...". Anything that threatens legal action is going to get either no response of any kind or a nasty response.

When it comes down to foreclosed or abandoned homes the bottom line is that the people who had the house either bought more home than they could afford, or they have been wiped out by some financial or medical disaster. They KNOW what's happening. They're usually embarrassed, depressed and flat broke and they don't need somebody telling them something that they already know.

Here is a website that explains reverse mtg. The bank only gives a written 60 day notice to the owners or estate to pay the balance in full or it becomes the banks property. From what is being said the bank would now own these homes but refuses to do anything because it has none or little value because of the condition. Most of these will be sold for property taxes eventually. Most banks will only give you 40% or less of appraised value on a reverse mtg. Unreal to me why people get involved with these type of transactions.
Reverse Mortgages Explained In Terms You Can Understand

I would think that those fees like any property taxes owed would have to come out of the sale price once it's sold. It would be up to the buyer and seller as to who actually pays them.

I agree with all you wrote. Is it possible to form a group of disgruntled citizens and to make a big stir (make the Orlando newspapers and maybe TV) and make something happen to stop this abuse of us senior citizens. There must be a breech of contract somewhere. We home owners have to keep up curb appeal, according to my covonents. To leave a house unoccupied for years is grounds for a class action lawsuit against someone (you guessed it) for not enforcing the same rules on these entities who are the fall back new owners of these properties. I have one next door and I live in Rio Ponderosa. I see many other homes that appear to be reverse mortgage homes and the owner is no longer with us. I think the POA should get involved. Yeah! a good cause to pursue.