It's a Dirty Little Secret Walden Woods doesn't want you know!
About two years ago Walden Woods tried to increase lot rents far beyond the limit promised to the residents. Management refused to back down and wanted the residents to pay the increased amount so the residents fought back with a fury.
The Home Owners Association organized a public protest. Residents gathered on the main highway just outside the complex (it's Florida's main artery - US 19) and they set up a picket line with large signs ("CRF LIES!", "CRF UNFAIR!", etc.) and used a bullhorn to attract attention. Soon cars were slowing down and honking horns in solidarity, clogging the highway.
Police soon arrived but didn't stop the protest - after all, protesting and expressions of free speech are the American way - just like this website. It attracted the media, was on the evening news complete with interviews of angry homeowners and it even made the morning newspapers.
Another tactic the homeowners used was pure genius. Nearly every homeowner displayed a "FOR SALE" sign in a front window and when prospective buyers visited, the fact that so many homes were for sale scared them away. As I said, pure genius! Even today visitors can see a relatively large number of "FOR SALE" signs on display. WARNING: Homes in Walden Woods depreciate faster than a used car! One example is the largest, most expensive $125K model with plenty of luxury upgrades that has been for sale for nearly a year with no luck. Even with the asking price of a mere $65K there isn't even one looker.
Management saw the TV news and read the newspaper (and the potential damage to their bottom line) and immediately backed down rather than hurt sales and were pressured into keeping their promise of lower lot rents. See, when you have "right" on your side, who can prevail against you?
I have the protest video which is impossible to upload to this website. I'll try to upload it to YouTube and if I succeed I'll put a link here.
I'm trying to get a copy of the newspaper article and TV news video. If successful I'll try to link you to the article and upload the video to YouTube and provide you a link to it. (Update: I did find the TV coverage in the ABC Action News archive but it may be too old (October 2008) because when the link is clicked on it returns a message saying "The page can't be found".
I had better luck with the newspaper article, found it and it has a damning photo of the protest - one guy wears a striped prisoners uniform with a sign "Prisoner of Rent Increase" a woman holds a sign "$318 now, $572 next year", another woman's sign reads "Unfair Rent Practices"... all protesting the amount that Walden Woods wanted to raise lot rents. The photos speak volumes. The photo and newspaper article appear below.
Photo by Shemir Wiles
Keith Laroche walks Sunday along U.S. 19, wearing a prisoner costume. Laroche, along with other residents, protested the lot rent increase inside Walden Woods. Laroche said the increase is forcing people to sell their homes at ridiculously low prices.
By Shemir Wiles
Residents gathered Sunday afternoon outside their retirement community to protest a lot rent increase some say is too high.
"They have no consideration for the elderly and veterans," Keith Laroche said.
Laroche paraded along U.S. 19, dressed as a prisoner with a sign that read "Prisoner of Rent Increase." He said people in the community can't sell their houses because of the high rent. People who originally put their homes on the market for $80,000 have now been forced to sell them for as low as $23,000, Laroche said.
"You can't win," he said. "It's a shame."
Bill Burke has been trying to sell his home for two years. He said he wants to move to
Jacksonville to be closer to his children, but he can't find anyone willing to buy his home. He said he's personally known at least three people who have bought homes in Walden Woods and when they find out their rent is $100 more than what the previous owner paid, they leave.
"I mean this is ridiculous," Burke said.
The lot rent, or monthly lease fee, covers leasing the home site, use of recreational facilities and maintenance of all common areas including roads, according to the Web site of the landowner, CRF Communities, a Lake Wales-based company. It does not cover utilities.
Joeann Gidlow, a member of the Forest View Estates' homeowners association in Crystal River, said Walden Woods is not the only retirement community being affected by high rent increases. Forest View Estates and Stonebrook Estates in Homosassa are also feeling the pinch.
"They charge a lot of rent and do little maintenance," Gidlow said.
Tracey Bullard, president of Walden Woods North's homeowners association, said the park owner met with his association, but would only discuss matters listed in the letter that was sent out to residents informing them of the rent increase. Any discussion about the reason for the lot rent increase and where the money was going was not allowed, Bullard said. He said he would like to have another meeting to look for a solution everyone could agree on.
"I think there's room to work this out," Bullard said.
But for some residents, the time is ticking on keeping their homes.
Beth Maginn moved into the park last May, but said no one told her about the rent increase when she bought her home. "Everything was hush-hush," she said.
She said the previous owner paid in the low $300s for rent, but she was quoted a fee of $460. Then, she said, they didn't mention anything about added expenses that increased her rent to $485. Next year, she said, she will have to pay $513 and she's not sure she can afford it.
"We won't be able to live here much longer," Maginn said. "We're going to be put out of our house."
Maginn said she wants to know where the extra money is going. Several residents said they feel the increase was made to keep residents from selling their homes. As a result, residents said, CRF hopes to increase its chances of selling homes in its new community, Walden Woods South.
Al Perras said people who buy new homes in the new community pay about $300 for their lot rent, while the rent for resells floats around $500. Perras was carrying a sign Sunday in honor of disabled veteran Mark Grant, whose rent increase was the highest. Grant's rent went from $318.10 to $572. Perras said Grant was unable to be at the protest because he was at the hospital with his dying father-in-law.
Rose Adsit has been living in Walden Woods since 1998 and at age 75, she said she's shocked and disheartened by the whole ordeal.
"I've been hurt to know someone can be that mean to a human being," she said.
