Retirement Community Tries to Evict Six-Year-Old Girl

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This post was mentioned on Reddit by thilehoffer: Some old people suck. I walk my dogs in a retirement community full of modular homes (high end though). 85% of the people are really nice, we stop and chat with them sometimes and stuff.

But one day…

[...] 6:06 pm on October 22, 2009 Reply Retirement Community Tries to Evict Six-Year-Old Girl | Strollerderby Looking for a little compassion? You won’t find it in Clearwater, Florida. A retirement community [...]

what do you expect when all the grumpy old people move in together. A 6 year old is enough to brighten anyone’s life, that is, unless your a jaded old grump.

Wow. That is crazy. I can’t believe the neighbors would do that. Even if they don’t have kids or grandkids, can’t they see how heartless they are being?

I live in a condo building full of silver haired retirees like these folks and I’ve never met a more uptight bunch of people who freak out and harshly try to enforce the condo rules (some which don’t even exist) just so they have something to do with themselves. That board should be ashamed of themselves. It’s totally within their power to vote in an “emergency amendment” for that little girl. Greatest generation, my ass.

jenny - all I know is that our old house was on the market for two years before it sold, at well below the appraised value. Before the bottom fell out of the market. I’d really be curious when the house was put on the market.

maybe they should have thought about the rules of the community and the contract they signed before they took the kid in? not like it’s a surprise or anything. just foster the kid up then you don’t have to worry about moving and your neighbors will finally be happy.

I understand that, ri-chan, but maybe the neighbors would rather rent to a pair of 50-somethings than deal with the homeowners and their granddaughter. The home I am renting was not technically supposed to be a rental property because of the HOA, but they made an exception when the homeowner hit hard times, moved in with her daughter, and couldn’t sell the house for over two years. It was clear that it was headed to foreclosure, and the neighbors were having to pick up where my landlady’s hired maintenance man couldn’t or wouldn’t, with picking up trash in the yard etc. Just seems like one solution that ought to be on the table.

I have never understood and will never understand why HOAs are allowed to make obviously discriminatory by-laws. Why can’t HOAs have by-laws that prevent black people from living in a community? These old arrogant people are the same ones that refuse to pay school taxes because they are retired and don’t have kids at home. We live in a society! I don’t think fireman under the age of 55 should put their fires out. I don’t think cops under the age of 55 should answer their home invasion calls!

Those crazy Americans …

I don’t know anyone who would want to buy a home in that kind of a community, retired or not.

Another news article mentions she’s been living there since she was an infant. So it does seem the HOA has given the grandparents years to work out something else. The people in the retirement community chose to live in an over 55 community for a reason. The HOA has been gracious in letting her live there for a number of years to give the grandparents a chance to work out arrangements. If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at her useless, loser of a drug addicted mother and father who brought a child into this world they couldn’t care for.

I find it incredibly sad that an older generation can’t find it in their hearts to make an exception for this kid, until something more suitable is found. Laws are meant to uphold justice … I don’t see any justice in turfing out this poor family, or forcing a six year old child to live with foster parents! Perhaps these old people should spend a little more time with other generations instead of living in their retirement ‘bubble’.

Oh & as for the Leland Wheeler shaking his fist comments, did it not occur to you that modern parenting is probably one of the reasons people are seeking 55 & over communities? Back when I was a kid (born in the mid 60s), if I complained about a grouch older neighbor, my parents might laugh, but made it clear I was to stay off their lawn, etc. because we were to respect other people’s rights. Too many parents today just let their kids run wild and then get annoyed when the neighbors get an attitude about it. Since parents won’t make their children show basic respect for property rights, older folks have to seek refuge in 55 & over communities.

I’d like to go there and punch these old worthless pieces of garbage right in the face.

How dare they break a discriminatory homeowners association policy! I’d also like to punch the little girl. She annoys me.

I hate very few things, but I HATE homeowner’s associations. They don’t pay any part of the mortgage so they can take their uptight little rulebook and cram it. I’ve never even heard of a 55+ requirement before. That is insanity. If we had “no one over 50″ communities these same people would be crying ‘ageism.’ I agree that kids these days don’t have the same respect for their elders (or really much respect for anything) that they used to, but that isn’t going to change by isolating the elderly and further compartmentalizing our society. Would these people have the same ‘right to protect their way of life’ if they were excluding homosexuals, minorities, immigrants, tall people, fat people, old people, or any other kind of people?

You always hear the old people saying “These kids today”. Yeah well it’s not just the kids, obviously these old folks are not leading by example and have no right to complain about the “kids” of today. It is crazy.

If I move to a place where there ‘are no kids allowed, save for short visits’ then I do NOT expect any exceptions. Otherwise it will be over-run with kids. Why not this exception, why not that one? All the boo-hoo stories. These people, perhaps through no fault of their own, raised a crappy daughter. They are trying to do the right thing: they simply have to bite the bullet and MOVE.
Not everyone is enchanted by the noise children can produce. This kid may very well be quiet, well-behaved. That is not the point. People moved to this community with an expectation that exposure to children WILL BE LIMITED! Once an exception is made, well, I repeat myself.
One of the reasons some conditions in this country are the way they are is relaxation of penalties, rules, etc. grouches indeed. To the individual who stated that, phooey.
two cents ¢¢

It is illegal for discrimination by age for housing. These “retirement”communities are all for the most part white people that want to live with there own kind. What a crock of crap. They take the best communites,and put a 55 or over sign on them, make you fill out an application to see if you are the “kind” of people that they want, and then the local gov. taxes the crap out of them, for school taxes,a win situation, as no one there goes to school, Pure profit for the local gov, and school district.
These places are illegal, and need to be taken to the Supreme Court for discrimination against minorities, and age discrimination.

Leland Wheeler is also gay (a contributing writer for http://www.glbtq.com) who has….get this…a Masters Degree in Social Work. So he has I would imagine been discriminated against himself, and has a degree in a field where he learned for YEARS to help other people. There is something beyond wrong with this man and WHY should these types of places exist any more than others? What if I started a community that didn’t want old people, or colored people or gay people? Would that be okay? Hell no it wouldn’t! I would be sued to the teeth if not shot and killed on spot, Yet, as Americans we seem to be okay with letting retired people make their own little niche where no one that they deem “too young” is allowed to reside. The simple fact is discrimination is discrimination and NO homeowners association should be able to make it so that someone can’t live in their home if they take in a relative. This is EXACTLY whats wrong with the moral fiber in this country, money is more important than family. If I were the grandparents I would rent a house or apartment where children are allowed, and spray paint child haters live here on the house before I packed my junk and moved out. Let the HOA clean THAT up.

I think it is time for the community to come together and allow the child to stay with the grandparents. Its not like they havent been trying to sell the home noone is buying the market is sluggish to say the least. This is no reason to shunt a loved child with primary caregivers into a over burdened foster care system which already has such a rate of abuse and neglect.There have been many back and forth comments and confessions on this very subject on http://www.truuconfessions. com. Confess yourself!

I have a similar post on my blog. “Gated Community in Kissimmee” is very anti-family, and the ‘resort’ is not even 55+ community. http://retirehappier.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/define-retirement-part-two-get-a-life/
The main point is IMHO, is to qualify for the 55+ you first must be a HUMAN BEING, perhaps the little girl can enforce that aspect of the “Rules”.

What you FAIL to disclose is that the 55+ community could be decertified by the state and lose its tax exemption (in Florida about HALF of the considerable real estate taxes are for school which is mostly exempt in 55+ communities). These people have been warned for FIVE friggin years to move. These idiots could always rent their house out and move if they wanted to. Don’t be fooled by the MSM.

I have no doubt that they’re trying to get out as fast as they possibly can. What do you suppose this family’s life is like surrounded by neighbors like this? And the people saying “just move!” are showing an obvious class bias. I don’t know about this family’s finances, but many people literally can’t “just move”. Moving is expensive (even a crappy apartment requires a security deposit and advance rent), and they’d still be paying HOA fees, maintenance, taxes, etc. on the house they’re leaving. It may be that these commenters could “just move” out of their houses if need be, but that’s not the case for everyone.

Wow Deja-Vu. My parents live in a retired community now for much the same reasons anyone lives in such a community. No one in the household is going to school so they like the tax exemption and lets face it, children are loud.

Anyway, their neighbor took in a granddaughter after her parents were killed in a car crash. My parents started complaining about the little girl IMMEDIATELY and I guess the other neighbors complaints mirrored my parents. It wasn’t long at all before the girl was living with an aunt and uncle instead.