It seems there is always someone who thinks it is their job to control everyone else. "What you are speaks so loudly I can not here what you say", Ralph Waldo Emerson

Shame on you and your stereotypical comment about trailer parks. Your attitude towards them is shameful. There are degenerates in every community and especially in every income group just look at the recent news about filthy rich people who sexually assaulted others. Imagine that someone in a million dollar home right next door to you doing things that only degenerates" do. I'm certain that their neighbors are in total shock.

Please turn me in for having a 8" ceramic turtle in my flower bed.

Perhaps if you were aware that anyone can register a complaint you would feel differently. Yes, anyone, whether they are an owner or not can make a complaint. Imagine if you fired a vendor and they could retaliate by making an anonymous complaint causing you to have to make a change?

I guess I have caring neighbors here in Fenny and elsewhere in the Southern Oaks area. If there is someone "out of compliance" we go over there and ask if they need help. Finger pointing does not lead to a cohesive neighborhood. There are people here that need a boost sometimes. I know my friend did and neighbors helped with his yard, asked him to dinner, helped w/meals. They still check in and I visit every weekend. One may move here w/great intentions, but sickness and/or emergencies happen. I will be moving back soon to help, but I thank these people for their caring, not complaining.

deed restrictions
 

:boom:Deed restrictions are in place and accepted by everyone who moves in The Villages when you buy a home here. Property values are saved and rise in value because of these restrictions. If you are so proud of your home made glass bottle tree or your statues or your personal art work or your cactus garden or your trailor park reflectors lining your front yard or your 3 ft fish planter with flowers growing out of its mouth just put it out in your back yard so you can lounge all day on your barca lounger chair viewing your bad taste thru your sliding glass door but please put a nice thick hedge up first so your rear neighbors do not have to look at it.

I see and how many gold fish can I have if I promise to keep them on a leash?

Edit: In case you think I am just being silly, the deed restrictions specifically state I can have only 2 goldfish and they must be kept on leashes at all times.

Excellent post!

:bigbow:

Get Over It
 

For all of the people complaining and calling out "rats".

Stop being childish idiots.

If I drive thru your neighborhood and your weeds are two feet high, I'm reporting you.

There are a lot of hoods that I drive thru to either get to a club, rec center, golf course etc. If I see a violation, :boom: reported.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Well I have to agree with you. We moved from the Villages after 8 yrs. but not for that reason. Where we live now it’s just like you said it was there only worse. Here they they email you or text you & curse you. The sad thing here about the people they only pick certain words out of your complaint & don’t quote exactly what you say. Most people complain just because they want you to Respond. Hope it works out!

I agree calling people idiots, that you only know via the internet is a way to win friends and influence people. But, then somehow I don't think the point of your post was either. So, this is not a discussion of differing views, simply a black board where people can post their opinions and make fun of other people.

Options
 

You have options. If you don't like the rules. MOVE..You came here knowing the rules. No one is holding you here and you have the option of leaving. If you want pink birds in plastic on your lawn or want to advertise you are a Christian by lawn oraments (I am a christian but that is between me and my god), and if you don't believe God did a good job by giving us beautiful flowers and green grass and great green growth then for god's sake move to somewhere where you can mess up God's work and admire awful commercially made things. Even to the extent of fake flowers which is a low point in ruining the wonderful community we live in. Again, please leave us to our beautiful Villages and Deed Restrictions meant to keep it that way and enjoy the outside "plastic" world. :ho:

The biggest problem with the reporting of so-called violations is that more often than not it is by people who "troll"; that is, they don't live in the neighborhood but find their jollies looking for offenses. You seem to think every "offense" is leading toward trailer trash when, in fact, the offense sometimes is a beautiful lawn ornament that enhances a yard. Sometimes it is a necessity for a disabled person who wasn't aware that adding a few bricks to the side of his driveway for safety's sake was a big deal. Sometimes a homeowner is in distress and it would be so much kinder for those trollers to stop and see if assistance in yard work is needed. And sometimes it is a vindictive person who makes things up! (Yes, this happened to a friend of mine.) From the many "violations" I have read about, they are petty things which could easily be taken care of by neighbors talking to each other. If it isn't your neighborhood, it isn't your business; if it is your neighborhood, then how about taking The Villages mantra into account: "Florida's Friendliest Hometown". Make it so.

So, if I understand you post correctly, you don't really care if or how the rules are enforced. Most of your post is about what you think is objectionable and you should not have to enjoy seeing it.

I draw that conclusion because most of your post is about what you don't like, not about the deed restrictions and/or their enforcement.

I agree with a lot of the Posts however, If I get turned in and they come out and inspect and tell me mine is not in compliance but there are other houses on the same block with the same violation and you hear well we didn't get a complaint on theirs only yours that's just not right. In all honesty there are MANY homes in TV that are not in compliance with one thing or another be it curbing side yard clearance, the raised curbing by many garages with the less then the required clearance, planting hedges in the Utility right aways, hedge heights etc. etc. as far as the White Cross I was informed mine in my rear yard had to go. Now I don't even face a roadway so tell me how someone spotted that! Another thing how can I rear yard that faces a roadway look like a jungle with you name in it but I front yard can't. Same roads!

Who cares who reported or how the violation is reported? Who cares if people find their jollies reporting? Who cares if it is not the reporters business? The issue is the violation.

You are projecting blame or blame-shifting. If there was no violation, there would be no trolls to blame, no bad reporting system to blame. If the report was made-up, nothing happens.

Why not examine your own motivation to violate, or the motivation of others who violate?

Very good points that address several of the problems with code compliance. Especially concerning selective enforcement.

But, then you know, RULES are RULES! :)

Tasteful is in the eye of the beholder. Do you think it's OK to put a stuffed fox or a large Budda in the front yard? That's exactly why there are deed restrictions.

:agree:

Amen to that!
 

Agree. These bad people are REAL problems. Minor landscaping violations are of very little consequence, if any.

Well, may I say the new areas seem a bit bland. The landscaping hasn’t grown in yet. The older areas are beautifully as they are - whatever has been done in the past seems to be working. Just saying.

:thumbup::agree:

I don't have a problem with the fox or the Budda. How my neighbor personalizes their yard is their preference, NOT mine. I find it very immature that anyone finds fault with what others do, and think that some need to grow up and quit being the kid that snitches on his sister (or brother) just to make trouble. And that is ALL it is, just someone wishing to make trouble. Most complaints are not even from the neighbors.
By the way, some deed restrictions demand that you get prior approval before modifying ANY landscaping, to include any new gardens and shrub planting. Those that complain are the ones with the problems, and I do not believe it has anything to do with how someone decorates their homes. It's likely just how the Villages did not live up to their expectation of Utopia that they thought they were moving into.
If you mind your own business you will find that you AND your neighbors will live a happier, more enjoyable stay in The Villages.

Interesting that the posters who are complaining about the need to have all of us step up to what we agreed to are mostly new arrivals, either to TOTV or The Villages (determined by the number of posts). Why is that?

Well said! :agree::agree::agree:

I expect most of the old timers are tired of the topic.

I agree that many here need to grow up and become an adult.

An adult follows rules. An adult's signature on a contract has meaning. An adult does not blame others when he gets caught doing something they promised not to do. An adult does not become angry when they are told they broke a rule, and look for someone to be angry at. An adult does not insist that he should be allowed to do something simply because he wants to. An adult leads by example and teaches his children and grandchildren that rules are needed and important.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Just wondering. Can you show me any cases of people on this thread getting upset because they "got caught" breaking the rules? I have spoken to many neighbors in my short time here and very few have "been caught", but those that did mostly laughed about it and said, "oh well".

Oh, and just to nit pick, in 40 years of working at numerous companies (contractor) I can not think of a single "adult" that didn't steal pencils, paper pads, etc. I can not think of a single employee that did not steal from the employer by using his company laptop to browse the internet (except a few in top secret labs, where the computers did not have access to the internet).

Shall we take a look at what percentage of ADULTS have driven for more than 30 years and have NO traffic violations?

I am not sure what world you like in, but I expect MOST adults don't follow the RULES.

chilout
A little angry, but I mostly agree The Villages/governing body needs to do the inspecting and enforcing. I read in another thread, that after someone moved in (and made no changes) got a letter telling them they were not in compliance. The governing body needs to keep everything in compliance, there can’t be “if it’s ok with your neighbors it’s ok” type of enforcement. Neighbors change, so if everyone on a block does the same thing for years and one new neighbor moves in and doesn’t like it and then reports everyone, they’re not Nazi’s, but it does cause ill feelings and keeps us creating threads like this one. Maybe the millions of miles that the Community Watch drives could help in enforcement, they see it all.

I would not say that just because people don't report neighbors for code violations that they don't have a problem with them. They just don't want to be the one that reports their neighbor. There is a difference.

I agree 100% that the community watch staff should be reporting all code violations. It should not be left to the neighbors to report them. That way it will be consistently enforced all over the villages.

Has it occurred to anyone that the bulk of these complaints are coming from neighbors who want to remain anonymous? Oh wait...that's the point of the whole system!! That is likely where the myth of the wandering complainants comes from..

:bigbow::bigbow::bigbow:

Just FOLLOW THE RULES. Problem solved.

The number of posts does not necessarily reflect when a person arrived to TV or began using TOTV. Many here may have huge number of posts, mostly consisting of "I agree" or a single emoticon. These do not move the discussion forward, and are close to worthless. Some members comment on almost every thread.

But are each of the Goldfish under or over 40lbs?

It's not important how the violation of deed restrictions is reported.
If there was no violation of deed restrictions, blame would not be necessary.

This is quite enlightening. I never realized we are not allowed to have an aquarium in our homes. The fact there is a limit to two fish? That is ludicrous. Keeping fish on a leash? That must be an error.

I hope they are under, but my covenants do not apply any size restrictions on the "pets".

I'm confused by this statement. I understand all about caring neighbors and neighbors helping neighbors. But......why would anyone offer help to a neighbor who has put a lawn ornament in their yard? What am I missing here?

***

Get a life. people! You agreed to the restrictions when you bought into The Villages. Now be a responsible adult and live up to your agreement.

In an earlier post I included a screen shot of the covenant for our district (12) but the wording is almost identical in all of them.

It describes what are allowable pets, what are not allowable pets, and how many pets you can have. I am CERTAIN the intent is to only allow 2 dogs, however, the wording is very clear and specific - it says there will be no more than 2 of the pets - which includes the fish. It also say that the owner is required to keep the "pets" on a leash, again obviously referring to dogs (maybe cats?) but that is not what it says. It says fish are pets and pets have to be kept on a leash.

My purpose in posting it, and repeating it, is that people keep saying that we should follow the rules, and if we don't follow the rules we are just stupid (name calling always works well in public discussions). Well then I suggest everyone should follow the rules. Keep your gold fish on a leash and don't have more than 2 of any mixture of pets. Don't do any investing in the stock market or selling or renting of multiple properties for a profit at home, etc, etc, etc.

Pretty silly isn't it. The covenants are all like that. People may "think" they know what they are agreeing to, but the wording is so poor that it is completely open to interpretation.

My opinion is that the covenants describe an intent, which is to keep TV beautiful for everyone to enjoy and benefit from. They provide guidelines only. And any complaint is investigated and the incident is evaluated to determine if it abides by the intent or not. If it is in violation of the rule they can (and do) grant exceptions.

All the fluster and bluster is not moving things forward, since they are proposing that we follow the exact letter of the rules, while those rules are so poorly written they can not in all reality be followed.