Officials agreed Friday to forgive more than $5,000 in deed compliance fines faced by a pair of homeowners in The Villages.
The first case involved the forgiveness of $4,500 in fines that had been ordered against a home at 1629 Navidad St. in the Village of Alhambra.
Community Development District 2 supervisors were told the fines against the property dated back to 2010.
It was one of the first cases pursued a decade by Community Standards, which had been newly charged with deed compliance at about that time.
The home has been in compliance since August 2016.
The District had imposed a total of $8,500 in fines and the actual cost of maintenance performed by the District was $2,650. The son of homeowner Madeline Green has been paying off the fines and the District has recovered all of the costs it had incurred for maintaining the property.
When the case occurred there was no cap on the fines. Today, most deed compliance cases are capped at $1,500.
The board agreed unanimously to forgive the remaining $4,500 in fines.
The second case which was considered by Community Development District 3 supervisors on Friday involved a home at 3624 Worth Circle in the Village of Glenbrook where Brian Bernier is living as a “life tenant.”
Bernier had until Nov. 20 to bring the property into compliance, however, the work was not completed until Dec. 14. The District imposed a $150 fine for Nov. 20 and a $50 daily fine from Nov. 21 through 30 in the amount of $550. The total amount of the outstanding fine was $700.
Bernier requested in writing that the fine of $700 be waived as the fine would be a “financial burden.”
The District has not expended any funds for the maintenance of the property.
CDD 3 Supervisor Gail Lazenby wanted to be clear about the message the board would be sending with the forgiveness of the fines.
“Had we expended money to maintain that property, my answer would be we need to recoup what we spent. I want to be clear that because it is difficult financially, you can’t get off the hook,” he said. “I want to make sure the community understands the words ‘financial hardship’ won’t get you a free ticket.”
The CDD 3 Board agreed unanimously to forgive the $700 fine.
