[KeepingItReal]

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[graciegirl]

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[bimmertl]

Oh really!

Stating facts is "incendiary"?

Yes, you are wrong. None of the Villagers who brought suit received "millions of dollars". The attorney who brought suit did, which is a common in suits involving multi million dollar settlements. Also, keep in mind, this was an agreed upon settlement which was approved by a judge. If Morse and his minions felt they were correct, they could have proceeded to trial and not settled. No doubt the down side was much more than the $40 million they coughed up. Plus, they would have to open their books to public scrutiny during the Discovery process and no doubt they feared that.

Take your pick, the overcharges were either intentional, or a result of gross incompetence. Either one is unacceptable.

Considering the lawsuit and now this, one can only wonder what else is going on in the highly secretive world of Villages finance? Of course, the Developer could always open his books to public scrutiny, but that will never happen.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by bimmertl

Oh really!

Stating facts is "incendiary"?

Yes, you are wrong. None of the Villagers who brought suit received "millions of dollars". The attorney who brought suit did, which is a common in suits involving multi million dollar settlements. Also, keep in mind, this was an agreed upon settlement which was approved by a judge. If Morse and his minions felt they were correct, they could have proceeded to trial and not settled. No doubt the down side was much more than the $40 million they coughed up. Plus, they would have to open their books to public scrutiny during the Discovery process and no doubt they feared that.

Take your pick, the overcharges were either intentional, or a result of gross incompetence. Either one is unacceptable.

Considering the lawsuit and now this, one can only wonder what else is going on in the highly secretive world of Villages finance? Of course, the Developer could always open his books to public scrutiny, but that will never happen.

Here is a link to an article about it. Isn't Elaine Driedame the current president of the POA?

This article is from March 2008....this all happened some time ago.

Villages developer to pay $40 million for recreation upgrades to settle a lawsuit - Orlando Sentinel

[Easyrider]

*********

[duffysmom]

I am very grateful to the developers (Morse & Schwartz) and who had the foresight to create this paradise. Do I believe that the developer et al need to be watched carefully, you bet I do. Why is it so hard to believe that there may be some shady bookkeeping going on. This is big business, many people have made millions hooking their star to the developer. Why should the POA be maligned because they exposed some double dealing and received a monetary judgment; we all profited by their due diligence and win, it was an eyeopener. I'm grateful that they are watching.. The only man I bow to is the Man above, everyone else is fallible.

[Ragman]

Originally Posted by KeepingItReal

If you paid off your bond off at closing and paid more than 6 months additional interest in addition to the bond you most likely are due back one half a years interest. The time of year you closed will be the determining factor as to how much interest you were charged..

From another post:

MONTHLY POA BULLETIN


Be sure to read the article in the October Property Owners Association bulletin. (page 12) It explains in detail the developer has been "mistakenly" overcharging some residents who elected to pay off their infrastructure bonds. In the cited example the resident was charged almost $1,400 when the charge should have been just over $700.

As a result of this residents diligence, the District procedures were changed to protect "future" payments. For the hundreds of those overcharged in the past, there is apparently no concern.

Sounds like a great class action lawsuit!

Kudos to Danny Smith.

I closed at almost the same time as he and inquired about paying the bond at closing to save the interest and was told there was nothing to be saved by paying before July of 2012. Had I known I could have saved $ 700 or so dollars, I would have jumped at the chance ( effective interest rate of about 6%).

This matter has been evidently misrepresented to home buyers for a long time. I'm certainly not an anti Villages, anti Developer person, but this omission by incompetence or intentional deception leaves a very sour taste in my mouth.

[tommy steam]

Originally Posted by KeepingItReal

If you paid off your bond off at closing and paid more than 6 months additional interest in addition to the bond you most likely are due back one half a years interest. The time of year you closed will be the determining factor as to how much interest you were charged..

From another post:

MONTHLY POA BULLETIN


Be sure to read the article in the October Property Owners Association bulletin. (page 12) It explains in detail the developer has been "mistakenly" overcharging some residents who elected to pay off their infrastructure bonds. In the cited example the resident was charged almost $1,400 when the charge should have been just over $700.

As a result of this residents diligence, the District procedures were changed to protect "future" payments. For the hundreds of those overcharged in the past, there is apparently no concern.

Sounds like a great class action lawsuit!

bump

[Gator Fan]

Eight years ago, we were told we couldn't even pay our bond off until the first year went by. On our first anniversary, I paid it off. I think alot of people were told the same thing.

[elevatorman]

This is is on the agenda for the Oct. 18 2012 meeting of CDD 7. They want to pay the money to those who overpaid. http://www.districtgov.org/PDFView/P...20121019071004

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Thanks for posting the link, elevatorman - interesting stuff!

Bill