Like neighborhood watch. Just making sure people are following the rules when there is a complaint made.

We have lived in a deed restricted community before The Villages. Compliance was a combination of anonymous complaints (something I never agreed with, you should put your name on the complaint) and a resident manager inspecting the community weekly. The HOA actually took someone to court over a violation, and won. There were some violations they never enforced because they felt too much time had gone by without enforcement and that was an implicit acceptance of the violation. The lesson learned was that timely enforcement is a good idea.

What is done in The Villages is the easy way out: let the residents report non-compliance. I have never agreed with that approach. I can understand that people are hesitant to report neighbors, those who enjoy reporting violations notwithstanding. Given that The Villages (actually the CDDs??) doesn't want to do the dirty work, we must realize that it is up to us to take the steps to maintain the look and feel that we want for our neighborhoods. I personally don't like seeing a yard full of tchotchkes. Fortunately, all of my neighbors apparently feel the same way.

Gap - Not sure that "Lenny" would be too appreciative of casting his mom in such a light! :)

Sorry, Bonny. Not being a jerk here, but I kind of knew that much of it. I was looking for specific answers from those who might know to the other questions. Cheers! :)

When I saw that you asked "what is a compliance officer ?" I assumed you didn't know. Answers to the rest of your questions, I couldn't tell you.

Yeah, that was my fault the way I worded it. What I was getting at was, what's their Job Description? What are the requirements to be hired for that job? Do they get any training? Seems like it could be a power trip for the wrong person in that job.

I don't think the compliance guys themselves are on power trips. Our neighbor (snowbird) received a complaint about weeds in the yard, and the compliance person was very apologetic and handled it very nicely.

It's the people who drive around looking for rule benders and then turn 97 of them in who seem to be on power trips. You would think common sense would say to the compliance department that if they get 97complaints from the same person, he's probably a nut case. But I guess they are duty bound to investigate.

Not to be contrary, but if you read the last section of the restrictions you signed for, it states that you DO have an obligation to report infractions, and pursue mitigation up to and including litigation.

Surely that doesn't mean that we have an obligation to take on the cost of suing someone over lack of compliance. What are they smoking?

Consequences
 

We all agreed to Deed Restrictions when we bought. They are simple and in most cases reasonable. In a lot of cases Residents break the rules but don't want to accept the consequences for doing so, (e.g. removing the alleged violation). Our community is great and we are proud when visitors come and agree and in some cases buy. Lets not screw it up with a lot of junk in the
yards, etc. One mans treasurer is another mans junk.:bowdown:

If you want to know what Community Standards does and the procedures that are taken Please go to Village Community Development Districts, Hover your mouse over Departments on the blue bar, Click on Community Standards. This will bring you to they're home page. Scroll down and find your district. These will be on the main page with a red line. Click on it. There will be an overview with definitions and basic deed restriction guidelines. Not all Districts have the same restrictions, The individual district boards have the right to enforce or not enforce certain restrictions. They cannot change the restrictions though. When you bought your home you signed and agreed to abide by the deed restrictions set forth by the developer. That is a binding contract and the boards can not change that but they can choose to enforce or not enforce certain parts of the document. If you would like something changed bring it up to your board at an open meeting.

What is the next step once a person gets a complaint? Are they given a certain amount of time to correct the situation? If so, does the compliance department come back for a second inspection and sign off on the complaint?

I wonder how many of these 97 residents want to plead not guilty and if there is such a remedy?

Maybe the complainer is having trouble selling their home and feels that the neighborhoods are looking a little junked up.

Guess I didn't word it right. These are District rules we shouldn't have to nor do I intend to turn someone in for breaking a district rule. Period unless it's a safety or health issue. The District should enforce their own rules without a tattletale enforcement.

OP, not sure why you've taken this on as your problem. If some wha cko wants to file what is now "hundreds of complaints," despite your intentions, it is not your problem. The Villages compliance folks are the professionals in this arena and have probably dealt successfully with these issues before. Best not to stress over it.