Do we want to live in a community with deed restrictions or not?

I’ve seen a lot of comments about the deed restriction process. I think some of the people making the comments don’t fully understand the process the Developer put in place.

The Developer identified the deed restrictions to be placed in everyone’s deeds. We all signed our deed with the restrictions. The Developer put in place the process for enforcement of the deed restrictions. That process requires the only people who can identify alleged deed restriction violations are residents.

Community Standards management staff have repeated several times in public CDD meetings that they cannot on their own identify deed restriction violations. They can only investigate alleged violations once they are reported to them by a resident. Therefore, if no resident ever reported an alleged violation the deed restrictions would never be enforced. This would result in a deterioration in the appearance of The Villages.

If an alleged violation is reported to Community Standards they will conduct an investigation. Only they have the power and authority to determine if the complaint is actually a violation to a deed restriction. If it is not a violation the accused property owner will never be notified and not be aware an alleged violation complaint was ever filed. They will only be contacted if Community Standards determines there is a violation. If you have violated a deed restriction, then it is your responsibility to make the necessary corrections to bring the property back into compliance.

Why is it important for a property owner to know who filed a substantiated deed restriction violation? Do they want to retaliate against the resident who was following the process the Developer put into place? Community Standards doesn’t rely on the resident who filed the complaint to make their determination if there is actually a violation. After a resident files an alleged violation with Community Standards they have nothing else to do with the process. Do we want to live in a community with deed restrictions or not?

Kenneth Mann is a resident of the Village of De La Vista West.