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55+ COMMUNITIES – A CESSPOOL OF
PROBLEMS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published
August 11, 2017
Let’s start with my
personal opinion: Considering what I have seen over the years
happening in 55+ communities I can assure you that I would never
buy into one of these “RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES.”
I know that many
retirees moving to Florida would like to buy into peaceful
communities – with no stress and friendly neighbors.
According to court
records and media reports this seems not to be the case in these
55+ communities. Especially communities located in the “Central
Florida” belt are obviously having serious problems.
To me it looks that
quite a few of these retirees discover that their middle names
are Adolf, Joseph or Fidel – and act accordingly. Attorneys are
busy trying to stir up the folks in order to create some “juicy”
lawsuits – as can be seen in the many articles about 55+
communities I posted over the years on our CCFJ website.
To me it seems that
many elderly folks with no prior business experience discover
that it is fun harassing neighbors, or being the local dictator
telling everybody in the neighborhood how to live their lives.
We find the “SUPERMAN”
types who think they know it all and are spreading their “wisdom”
all over the place.
And since many of
the retirees who moved into these communities just want their
“peace”, these folks who think that these communities would fall
apart without them, can prosper and quickly turn these
communities into dictatorships. Apathy often runs wild in these
communities.
In all honesty,
moving into these 55+ communities may avoid you hearing the
noise of playing children, but you may face some elderly folks
who consider these neighborhoods their private playground where
everybody has to follow their made-up rules.
Buyer beware: If you
are looking into buying into a 55+ community make sure that the
community still has the 55+ status. Not all communities
advertising as 55+ communities have re-registered for this
status over the years, most often because board and management
failed to renew the status as required by law.
Search The 55+ Housing Directory
to
make sure the community preserved its status.
And then there might
be the day when you want to sell your property in the 55+
community again for various reasons: Moving back up North to be
closer to the kids because your spouse died or having to move
into an assisted-living facility because of your failing health.
No matter what your
reasons are: In order to sell your property you do need a
potential buyer. And – because of age-restrictions – the pool of
potential buyers is already seriously limited if your property
is located in a 55+ community.
According to
statistics – many of the “new” retirees coming to Florida are
not interested in living in these “elderly” communities.
Make no mistake:
There are some “nice” 55+ communities here in Florida. But
beware: Even the “nicest” community is only one election away
from dictatorship.
Enough reasons why I wouldn’t buy into a 55+ community?
For More Info About the
FAIR HOUSING ACT +
55+ COMMUNITIES
CLICK HERE
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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