Good Afternoon:

My name is Barbara Down and I would like to applaud this Commission for trying to improve the quality of life for seniors relocating to the Great State of Florida.

One of the areas that needs extra attention is that there be full disclosure of problem areas when it comes to buying a home. There are too many pitfalls when developers are allowed to hide behind “buyer beware.”

I bought a villa in a CDD and paid an extra premium of $43,000 over the price of the home to have a water view. I closed on Sept. 7, 2001, moved in on the l0th and around the 15th, we had torrential rain and the pond behind me flooded and developed numerous sinkholes. The pond quickly drained out through 22 sinkholes. This entire scenario has repeated many times -- heavy rain, overflow conditions, then draining out through sinkholes. I am also concerned that we are polluting our aquifer with runoff from the surrounding golf course. After many sleepless nights and constant anxiety, I asked for a refund of the premium I paid for a water view -- after all I didn’t pay extra to look at a mud hole. I was turned down and even told that this was Florida and sinkholes are a fact of life.

Well after 12 episodes of sinkhole activity -- with a total count of 74 holes, the developer advises that he will be correcting this problem as soon as the rainy season ends. But, nonetheless, it’s been over a year, and I feel I did not get what I paid for.
I feel the onus should be on the developer to make full disclosure. I have neighbors who were told they were buying lakefront property, only to find out later that it was a retention pond.

I urge this Commission to recommend that full disclosure be made mandatory. We can’t allow seniors to move to Florida and be misled.

Thank you.

Barbara Down