A dead Villager’s house with a reverse mortgage has eroded into a neighborhood eyesore.
The property at 2051 Thurmond Ave. in the Mount Vernon Villas in the Village of Liberty Park was the subject of a public hearing Friday morning before the Community Development District 5 Board of Supervisors at SeaBreeze Recreation Center. The property was purchased in 2005 by Wanda Albert for $134,600.
A complaint about the property was received on April 18. Community Standards visited the property and confirmed violations including dead grass, overgrown grass and mold on the home. Community Standards made contact with “a friend who was visiting,” and explained to the friend about the violations. When Community Standards attempted to followup, it turned out Albert’s phone had been disconnected. She died on May 4.
Albert’s daughter Wendie contacted Community Standards and said she was “trying to work on the property” but said she was recovering from surgery. Staff followed up with Wendie on Monday and she said she had turned the home back over to the reverse mortgage company. For the moment, Wanda Albert remains the homeowner of record, according to Community Standards.
A neighbor, Christopher Whelpley, testified at the hearing and he was clearly frustrated with the situation. He said he has seen members of Wanda Albert’s family at the home.
“When you pull up in a $100,000 automobile, you have the finances to clean this up,” Whelpley said. “It appears the current family has the means to take care of this.”
He added that the condition of the home is worsening by the day.
The CDD 5 board granted the homeowner seven days to bring the home into compliance. If it is not brought into compliance, she will be fined. In addition, CDD 5 will pay for the grass to be cut and the home to be powerwashed. Fines and the cost of continued maintenance will be assessed and could add up, as the case could drag out for some time due to the reverse mortgage. CDDs in The Villages have been more and more aggressive about placing liens on non-compliant properties and fighting to recover fines.
“We don’t like to forgive fines,” added CDD 5 Board Chairman Gary Kadow. “It’s not fair to the rest of our residents.”