Community Announcements

One of our board members recently retired from the Cumberland Manors Board of Directors.

 

We're seeking a volunteer to fill that fifth spot on the board for at least the rest of the year.

 

Ideally, this volunteer property owner would be available to be appointed by the board and attend our next meeting of the Homeowner's Association on June 5th at 6:30 p.m. at Greenacre Properties, 4131 Gunn Highway, Tampa.

 

After that, there are also HOA board meetings scheduled for September and December.

 

If interested, please contact our HOA's management company at Greenacre Properties by emailing Dawn Archambault at darchambault@greenacre.com

 

Please provide your name, property address and contact information, such as an email address and phone number.

By Will Parker, The Wall Street Journal

While homeowner associations for years have sought to stop investors from buying and renting out houses in their neighborhoods, legislative proposals in Congress and several states represent a new effort by elected officials to regulate Wall Street’s appetite for single-family homes.

 

This “corporate large-scale buying of residential homes seems to be distorting the market and making it harder for the average Texan to purchase a home,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X last month. “This must be added to the legislative agenda to protect Texas families.”.

 

But is it all too little too late? Critics of proposed regulation by Congress and in several states note that many of the largest investors have bought very few or no homes in the past year.

 

“The great trade is done,” said John Burns, founder of a prominent national housing research and consulting firm bearing his name. “So what are you trying to stop?” 

 

Smaller investors who own between 10 and 99 homes have stepped up their share of home buying this year, Burns said. Some of the proposed legislation would also target these smaller investors.

 

There's definitely support for change among politically diverse parts of the electorate in a presidential election year.

 

Close to equal numbers of voting-age Republicans and Democrats said they would support a measure to block Wall Street firms from buying homes, according to a new study funded by the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. The study gauged opinions from 5,000 renters and homeowners in urban and suburban ZIP Codes.

 

Gov. Abbott isn't the only one with misgivings, but will proposed legislation gain traction anywhere? None of the bills in Congress or in any of the state houses has reached a floor vote.

 

Investors of all sizes spent billions of dollars buying homes during the pandemic. At the 2022 peak, they bought more than one in every four single-family homes sold, though more recently their activity has slowed as interest rates rose and supply became tighter.

 

Lawmakers say that investors who have scooped up hundreds of thousands of houses to rent out are contributing to the dearth of homes for sale and driving up home prices. They argue that investor buying has made it harder for first-time buyers to compete with Wall Street-backed investment firms and their all-cash offers.

 

Two of the largest home-buying firms, Invitation Homes and AMH, are publicly traded companies, while a number of other companies, backed by private equity, hold portfolios of tens of thousands of homes nationwide.

 

REF: https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/wall-street-has-spent-billions-buying-homes-a-crackdown-is-looming-f85ae5f6?st=lcum7mhedfa7h11&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink 

 

 

Cumberland HOA, Inc. successfully brought to conclusion a lawsuit brought to enforce its Declaration of Restrictions against residents who failed to obtain approval from the Architectural Review Committee (”ARC”) prior to making substantial changes to the landscape design in front of their home.  Last year, one of the homes within the Cumberland Manors community was purchased at auction by investors who decided to replace the existing front lawn and sidewalk with pavers and gravel.  Had the new owners followed the association’s guidelines, and submitted an ARC Application before completing any work to the front of the home, they could have avoided unnecessary litigation, as well as what ended up being a costly mistake for them.

 

After multiple violation notices addressing the non-conforming, landscape alterations made to the front of the property, the association was able to reach a signed, mediated settlement agreement with the owners that required them to take action to bring the front of the home into compliance with the association’s deed restrictions.  When the owners subsequently refused to abide by the terms of the mediated settlement agreement, the association continued in its pursuit to enforce compliance with its Declaration of Restrictions and ultimately won.  The owners finally removed the gravel and a large section of pavers and replanted sod in the front of the home and added trees, shrubs and bushes.   They also had to pay more than $14,000 in legal fees to the association, plus thousands more to bring the landscaping back into compliance with ARC standards.   

 

All of the homes located within the Cumberland Manors subdivision are subject to the association’s deed restrictions, which were created to help preserve and maintain the character and value of the homes within the community.  When alterations are made to the front of a home, it is important to remember to first obtain approval from the ARC, not only to ensure compliance with the community’s deed restrictions, but also to avoid costly mistakes.  The ARC is comprised of residents from within the Cumberland Manor community who are here to help all homeowners navigating the process of making changes, alterations, or improvements to their homes.  Maintaining the front of the homes in a community, including sidewalks, driveways and front yards, not only preserves the value of homes, but enhances the sense of community and pride of all residents in the community.

 

If you have been considering making any changes or improvements to your home, including repainting your home or changes to your driveway, you can obtain a copy of Cumberland Manors’ ARC Application, on the Cumberland Manors webpage, or by clicking here: https://www.cumberlandmanors.org/editor_upload/File/arcformltr.pdf.  For more information on Cumberland Manor’s minimum landscaping guidelines, click here:  https://www.cumberlandmanors.org/editor_upload/File/Standards.pdf.

Hillsborough County has issued a Boil-Water Notice for some portions of the northern and central county - including Cumberland Manors and other customers in the HCPUD Northwest drinking water system

 

Hillsborough County, Fla. (Dec. 27, 2023) - Hillsborough County Water Resources is issuing a precautionary boil water notice for some customers in the HCPUD Northwest drinking water system.

 

Due to a water main break, the minimum water pressure in the County's water distribution system dropped below the required regulatory level in some areas of the water system. Because of this, the Department of Health in Hillsborough County requires a precautionary boil water notice to be issued.

 

 

 

Four people in Sarasota have recently caught malaria - the first local spread of the disease in 20 years. But they have been treated and recovered from the potentially deadly mosquito-borne illness, according to the Florida Department of Health, which issued a statewide advisory Monday (June 26, 2023).

 

A fifth case was reported last week in Cameron County, Texas, about 1,300 miles from Sarasota County, according to Texas health officials. The person had spent time working outdoors and had not traveled out of the country, said Patch . com.

 

Malaria is a serious and potentially fatal disease transmitted through mosquito bites. About 2,000 U.S. cases of malaria are diagnosed each year — the vast majority occur in travelers coming from countries where malaria commonly spreads.

 

Since 1992, there have been 11 outbreaks involving malaria from mosquitoes in the U.S. The last one occurred in 2003 in Palm Beach County, Florida, where eight cases were reported, Patch . com reported. In Texas, the last locally acquired case occurred in 1994.

 

The most common symptoms of malaria are fever, chills, sweats, headache, body aches, nausea, and vomiting. Symptoms typically start seven to 30 days after infection, Patch . com said.