Talk of The Villages Florida - The Villages - Understanding Your Restrictive Covenants

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- The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)

- - The Villages - Understanding Your Restrictive Covenants (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/villages-understanding-your-restrictive-covenants-325691/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gpsma (Post 2022264)

Time to fight and end these restrictive deeds issues.

Great for the esteemed, honored, all saintly Developer...praises and blessings be upon him....but....
That still sells houses to the cornhuskers who need to see the same thing over and over.
Sorry, place is getting too big to still cater to people from Mayberry.

Its a city now..

We need diversity

Just stirring the pot, he/she isn't that ignorant.

Read The Documents You Sign

If you’ve already closed on your Villages house or villa—it’s too late.

Even if you didn’t read the restrictive covenants, it wouldn’t make any difference. They’re the same for everyone and are ‘non-negotiable’. It’s either agree to the covenants or go find another house in Florida to buy.

But it is important to read and understand the restrictions of the covenants. If you violate them, you will find yourself either paying a hefty fine and/or being required to ‘undo’ any construction or improvements you’ve paid for, putting your home and property back to a condition which satisfies the covenants you agreed to. The Villages is well known for enforcing the deed restrictions ‘to the letter’. Getting the Developer to agree to variations to the covenants is as impossible as negotiating changes before you close on your house.

I moved here because of how The Villages looked - first and foremost. I saw a community with mowed lawns, beautiful landscaping, clean, the fact that most of the people who live here are retired or near to it and they are nice, that I have a community with rules to keep everything beautiful INSTEAD OF a community with no room to walk on the street or drive a golf cart because the streets are flooded with vehicles, many inappropriate for a neighborhood street, sofas on the front porch, weeds three feet tall in the yards, golf courses, trails, nature areas, and the area in general destroyed because the community is filled with people who don't care about anyone but themselves (me, me, me). Why do I paint such a picture? Go to any major city in the US and that is what you will see in areas that don't have some type of rules and regulations. I don't care how big this place gets. I care about the place I live. I didn't move here to be surrounded by people I don't want to live by, I moved here to be surrounded by people I do want to live by. I hate it when the holier-than-though crowd start shouting we need diversity, we need the rules all changed, we need this and we need that, all in an effort to change the community we all chose to move to. People who moved here could have moved anywhere. If they wanted to go to the squares to eat and shop, they could have lived outside of TV to do that. If people wanted to live next door to people with dogs barking all night long, dirt for their yard, noise, and a mess in general, they could have moved to so many other communities and cities - it didn't have to be here. I worked hard to get where I have gotten and I don't need it destroyed because some people here don't want to follow the rules that have been established to keep our community, for the most part, beautiful, clean, and safe.

We already see where some problematic people live here and/or they bring their problematic adult children with them - those with criminal or mental issues, alcoholism, or drug addiction. You see people complain about them or, on the flip side, think they all need psychiatric/personal help. Yes, people that live here only need to be able to financially afford the home they purchased and at least 80% (if I'm correct) need to be 55+. They don't have to be perfect people - none of us are. But they, we, have to pay our bills and follow the rules.

If we don't want to do those things, we can sell our homes and move. Now is a great market for sellers. Houses aren't on the market long and many times are going for more than asking price. If people find it hard to live here, consider selling your home. Make a big profit on it and move else where. It is easy to do. You will be happier - unless you move to another community with rules that you don't want to follow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vagent711 (Post 2022604)

Outstanding Post. I would love to see it reposted every month for those new to the TOTV.
Again, well done!

Which post?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gpsma (Post 2022264)

Diversity, solely for the sake of diversity is not sustainable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoMar (Post 2022614)

Just stirring the pot, he/she isn't that ignorant.

Now, now... Never underestimate people!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter (Post 2022623)

Which post?

I'd like to say my post, but they most probably were commenting on the OP...

My olders sister's both own homes in the Villages.
When I decided to move to be closer to them, I chose a home nearby but not in Villages mainly because of the HOA, deed restrictions and covenants. I didn't like the cookie cutter look of the small properties and the prices were higher for what you get.

I'm 5 minutes away from them, have a lovely 3bed/2bath, 2 car garage, a large workshed and additional covered parking attached to shed, it has completely fenced large area for dogs around the pool, brick and block house with a new roof, on 1/2 acre in a very nice, quiet, older neighborhood. The house was move in ready except for painting interior to my liking and refinishing garage floor.
The property has lovely flowers and plantings, pineapple, orange, lemon, avocado, sugar apple mango and other trees. I see no neighbors behind me due to large growth trees and don't hear any noise from neighbors nor do they have any unsightly yards, etc., and we have no HOA, covenants, deed restrictions. Just regular zoning laws.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMintzer (Post 2022649)

I'd like to say my post, but they most probably were commenting on the OP...

So, you really don't know.....right? Only the poster would know....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alana33 (Post 2022692)

Glad you are happy....
BTW there is no HOA in The Villages.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter (Post 2022696)

So, you really don't know.....right? Only the poster would know....

Hence, my "most probably" caveat...

The Villages - Understanding Your Restrictive Covenants Update

When I finally decided to compile this thread the intent was to attempt to give the residents of The Villages some food for thought before making changes to the exterior of their homes without going through the necessary review and approval process. Since the initial posting I have not read any new posts asking other TOTV readers for answers to their typical "Can I do ___________" (fill in the blank). Hopefully that indicates that a few people read and took to heart my comments in the spirit they were written. Naturally there will always be a select few that want to change everything to fit their own personal tastes. Not that change is always a bad thing but in this case I feel that "If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it". Most of the reply's to date have been polite and positive. It makes me once again remember why I chose to live here. Thanks for putting up with my long windedness.

Just to remind everyone Community Standards is a valuable (and free) resource for getting your questions answered in regard to the rules and regulations before you begin work. One thing I learned from being a contractor for almost 40 years. Doing things right might cost you a bit more in the beginning but doing it wrong will usually cost you three times as much when you consider the initial install, the removal or tear out, and finally the reinstall. Keep that in mind when you think about cutting corners.

Can Declaration of Restrictions be reviewed before I make move to The Villages?

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCMSr (Post 2022257)

It seems as though a week does cannot go by that I read a comment/question on TOTV related to what can or cannot be done to one’s home here in The Villages. For those of you who are looking for answers to these types of questions I offer the following simple two word response that you can apply to just about any issue you can bring up ……….”It depends”. Can I paint my house pink with purple trim? It depends! Can I remove all my grass and concrete the entire area? It depends! Can I have 5 cats, 2 dogs and 2 sheep? It depends!

Each and every person or entity who owns a home within The Villages is legally bound to comply with a set of covenants, conditions and/or restrictions which are tied to your specific property. Depending upon your county of residence, your district and even your unit/house number the answer to your questions may be different. Guidelines for designer homes are different from patio homes or courtyard villas. A courtyard villa located in District 7 may have different rules than the same model villa located in District 10 and so on. Even if you are willing to state the location and type of home for which you are making an inquiry the chances of getting an accurate response from your fellow readers are probably less than 50% even from the best hearted of those that reply. Add to the mix the trolls who love to stir the pot with comments like “Do whatever you want. After all you are the one paying for the home” and the accuracy percentage is probably even less.

Why take a chance without first doing your homework. Just because your neighbor did something does not mean that it was in compliance. Just because your landscape contractor says you do not need ARC approval does not mean he is correct. More importantly understand that you as the property owner are the one required to sign any ARC request forms and you are ultimately responsible for making sure all work is done in compliance with any covenants, conditions or restrictions.

One simple phone call to Community Standards can put you in contact with a staff that can provide you with accurate, up to date (yes, sometimes the rules change) and helpful information. Are you 100% certain whether your property contains easements and how far they extend? How often have you read about someone deciding to remove all his grass and installing stone because they no longer wanted to keep cutting the grass only to end up paying someone to come back and remove the stone and install new sod? How about the poor folks who spent significant funds landscaping their property only to be told that the area was actually a special easement and everything must be removed? Guess who ended up footing the bill for all the rework? Certainly not the contractor and most certainly not your fellow TOTV followers! Many folks try to transfer the blame to the complainant when confronted with a violation and potential fines but I have never heard of the complainant having to pay to fix the problem either! Be smart and be safe. Understand the rules and save yourself the aggravation.

Now before the negative responses about the unfair reporting systems or the “I never agreed to any restrictions” group start to chime in think about these issues:

• Where is it written that we are a 55+ restricted community?
• Where is it written that we agree to pay amenity fees?

The answer is these issues are also part of your Declaration of Restrictions. Surely you read and understood those parts of the agreement. You cannot cherry pick the items you agree to and those you do not. It is an all or none. You live here so obviously somewhere along the line you signed a legal document that said you agreed to abide by these rules and regulations. Otherwise, you would not be the legal owner.

Just to be clear, I am not an attorney nor am I an employee of the developer. I am simply a fellow resident of The Villages and one of the main reasons I moved here is because I liked what I saw and how things were managed. Having lived in other areas where such rules and regulations did not exist and seeing the what can happen minus reasonable controls no longer agrees with me or my pocketbook. Do I agree 100% with everything? Of course not, but if it really bothered me that badly I also know there are proper ways to try and incorporate changes. Obviously, ignoring the current rules and regulations is not, in my opinion, an option.

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I am hoping to retire to TV in 2022, but just had a friend warn me not to move there because of the “HOA” rules. I thought The Villages had no HOAs. Perhaps he had heard about the Declaration of Restrictions you mentioned. Is there a way to read them before I get involved in shopping for that new house? Thank you!
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More on deed restrictions...

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCMSr (Post 2022986)

I did come across a deed restriction for my district/section that may not be to my liking but it's too late now.

IE: 2.20 Developer reserves the right to enter upon Homesites at all reasonable times for the purposes of inspecting the use of the Homesite and for the purpose of maintaining utilities located thereon.

Anyone ever been inspected??

IMHO, only the people running a business out of their house or some other illegal type activity, and we have people once per month come on our property to read the electric meter and the water meters. I occasionally have people on the right of way at the back on my house when doing maintenance (we back on to another road). As for the inside of the house no.