NEWS WANTED send to lakeashtontalk@yahoo.com

Monday Night Bingo

As you well know, outsiders are having fun playing Bingo. There are a great deal of people that come in around 5:0'clock, so they hired another security guard at the main gate to allow the Bingo players in more quickly, thanks to Joe Hunter and Bingo Paul at Lake Ashton expense. They have two guards at the main gate and your paying for it.

For Shocking News, please E-mail me for new password

Bingo Paul idiot Pontious thinks he is smart but dumb, he thinks he can go around calling everyone names, now all of you must E-mail me at lakeashtontalk @yahoo.com your name, with phone number and I will give you the new password. These stories are highly recommended to read and enjoy. Stories that are true, you won't want to believe and pictures that are breath taken like 9-11, ditching in the Hudson river, alligator attack, world smallest man, etc Thanks

Paul Pontious

Paul Pontious has deleted all my shocking news on
lakeashton web site Shocking News. What the hell is wrong with this bird brain Paul. Joe Hunter does nothing about all the wrong doing this idiot does. He violated the Florida law, see LA Times Dec issue 2009 page 16, he dumps his Bingo cooler on the front lawn, writes idiots next to my name on all posters, Walks in the pool room shouting what an idiot I am in front of 20 pool players including a CDD member and he also said he had $30.000 in his pocket that he is going to keep, accuses me to Joe Hunter of things I did not do. Every time he sees me around my yard he shouts idiot at me and also three times at the club house. I don't talk to him why does he talk to me? This Joe Hunter has sends me letters telling me of things I did not do. One of which I was 1500 miles away in Boston when this incident happen. Does Joe Hunter send this Idiot Paul Pontious a letter to stop doing all this crap he's doing, like dumping the Bingo cooler on the front lawn? Everything that Paul Pontious does is OK by Joe Hunter. Everything he says to Joe Hunter he believes? That is why I call Joe Hunter a "do nothing". All he does is accuses people of things they have not done. I am the third person Joe has accused, things they have not done. I am now getting sick of this idiot Paul Pontious. He has deleted all my E-Mails I had on line. I am sending this message to all the CDD and HOA members, and Joe Hunter and also to the main office in Lakeland. Maybe I can get an answer, I know I can't get one from "Do Nothing" Joe Hunter. Give this bird brain Paul a call 863-875-0873 or send him an E-Mail at pbfp@tampabay.rr.com Thanks

Target!!!! Very Very Impt!!

Wasn't it last Christmas that Target refused to let the Salvation Army ring their bells in front of their stores?

Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association wrote.

'Recently we asked the local TARGET store to be a proud

sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during our

spring recognition event.

We received the following reply

from the local TARGET management:

' Veterans do not meet our

area of giving. We only donate to the arts, social action

groups, gay & lesbian causes,and education.'

So I'm thinking, if the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and

veterans in general, do not meet their donation criteria,

then something is really wrong at this TARGET store. We were

not asking for thousands of dollars, not even hundreds, just

a small sponsorship for a memorial remembrance.

As a follow-up, I E-mailed the TARGET U.S. Corporate

Headquarters and their response was the same.

That's their

national policy.

Then I looked into the company further.

They will not allow

the Marines to collect for 'Toys for Tots' at any of their

stores. And during the recent Iraq deployment, they would

not allow families of employees who were called up for

active duty to continue their insurance coverage while

they were on military service. Then as I dig further,

TARGET

is a French-owned corporation.

Now, I'm thinking again.. If TARGET cannot support American

Veterans, then why should my family and I support their

stores by spending our hard earned American dollars!

and, have their profits sent to France .

Without the American

Vets, where would

France be today?

'They, most likely would be speaking German and trading in Deutsch Marks'

Sincerely,

Dick Forrey
Veterans Helping Veterans

Baptist cowboy

A cowboy, who just moved to Wyoming from Texas , walks into a bar and orders three mugs of Bud. He sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.

The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy, "You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought one at a time."

The cowboy replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in Arizona , the other is in Colorado . When we all left our home in Texas , we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together. So I'm drinking one beer for each of my brothers and one for myself."

The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.

The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. He orders three mugs and drinks them in turn.

One day, he comes in and only orders two mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss."

The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in his eyes and he laughs..

"Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains, "It's just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking."

"Hasn't affected my brothers though."

Hey, wasn't that us?

> >>>A little house with three bedrooms, one bathroom and one car on the
> >>>street.
> >>
> >>>Amower that you had to push to make the grass look neat.
> >>
> >>>In the kitchen on the wall we only had one phone,
> >>
> >>>And no need for recording things, someone was always home.
> >>>We only had a living room where we would congregate,
> >>
> >>>Unless it was at mealtime in the kitchen where we ate.
> >>
> >>>We had no need for family rooms or extra rooms to dine,
> >>
> >>>When meeting as a family those two rooms would work out fine.
> >>
> >>>We only had one TV set, and channels maybe two,
> >>
> >>>But always there was one of them with something worth the view.
> >>
> >>>For snacks we had potato chips that tasted like a chip,
> >>
> >>>And if you wanted flavor there was Lipton's onion dip.
> >>
> >>>Store-bought snacks were rare because my mother liked to cook,
> >>
> >>>And nothing can compare to snacks in Betty Crocker's book.
> >>
> >>>Weekends were for family trips or staying home to play,
> >>
> >>>We all did things together -- even go to church to pray.
> >>
> >>>When we did our weekend trips depending on the weather,
> >>
> >>>No one stayed at home because we liked to be together.
> >>
> >>>Sometimes we would separate to do things on our own,
> >>
> >>>But we knew where the others were without our own cell phone.
> >>
> >>>Then there were the movies with your favorite movie star,
> >>
> >>>And nothing can compare to watching movies in your car.
> >>
> >>>Then there were the picnics at the peak of summer season,
> >>
> >>>Pack a lunch and find some trees and never need a reason.
> >>
> >>>Get a baseball game together with all the friends you know,
> >>
> >>>Have real action playing ball -- and no game video.
> >>
> >>>Remember when the doctor used to be the family friend,
> >>
> >>>And didn't need insurance or a lawyer to defend?
> >>
> >>>The way that he took care of you or what he had to do,
> >>
> >>>Because he took an oath and strived to do the best for you.
> >>
> >>>Remember going to the store and shopping casually,
> >>
> >>>And when you went to pay for it you used your own money?
> >>
> >>>Nothing that you had to swipe or punch in some amount,
> >>
> >>>Remember when the cashier person had to really count?
> >>
> >>>The milkman used to go from door to door,
> >>
> >>>And it was just a few cents more than going to the store.
> >>
> >>>There was a time when mailed letters came right to your door,
> >>
> >>>Without a lot of junk mail ads sent out by every store.
> >>
> >>>The mailman knew each house by name and knew where it was sent;
> >>
> >>>There were not loads of mail addressed to "present occupant."
> >>
> >>>There was a time when just one glance was all that it would take,
> >>
> >>>And you would know the kind of car, the model and the make.
> >>
> >>>They didn't look like turtles trying to squeeze out every mile;
> >>
> >>>They were streamlined, white walls, fins, and really had some style.
> >>
> >>>One time the music that you played whenever you would jive,
> >>
> >>>Was from a vinyl, big-holed record called a forty-five.
> >>
> >>>The record player had a post to keep them all in line,
> >>
> >>>And then the records would drop down and play one at a time.
> >>
> >>>Oh sure, we had our problems then, just like we do today,
> >>
> >>>And always we were striving, trying for a better way.
> >>>Oh, the simple life we lived still seems like so much fun,
> >>
> >>>How can you explain a game, just kick the can and run?
> >>
> >>>And why would boys put baseball cards between bicycle spokes,
> >>
> >>>And for a nickel red machines had little bottled Cokes?
> >>
> >>>This life seemed so much easier and slower in some ways,
> >>
> >>>I love the new technology but I sure miss those days.
> >>
> >>>So time moves on and so do we, and nothing stays the same,
> >>
> >>>But I sure love to reminisce and walk down memory lane.

Homeowner association blocks guests when fees go unpaid

Article Courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel
By Mary Shanklin
Published March 18, 2010

Melissa Solis said she understands that she can't use her community pool or clubhouse because she's late paying her homeowner-association fees.

But it's unfair, she said, that security guards at the gated entrance to her neighborhood prevent her friends, family, babysitter and even the delivery man from Winter Garden Pizza Co. from getting to her home. They wouldn't even allow her mother-in-law inside the gates for a family birthday party.

Instead, she has to meet her visitors outside the community's entrance, pick them up and drive them inside in her car. Unlike residents who are current with their fees, even Solis cannot enter through the automatic gates; she must instead get the guard's approval to access her home.

"I think it's more them trying to humiliate us," said Solis, who works in food services. "It's very embarrassing for our daughter. She's 10 years old, and she doesn't understand that the economy is tight and Daddy doesn't have a job."

Stoneybrook West's guard-shack standoff underscores the mounting frustration of homeowner and condominium associations in the Orlando area and across Florida. Many

Melissa Solis, who lives in Stoneybrook West, says she feels like the homeowners association is trying to humiliate her for not paying overdue fees.

associations face mounting delinquency rates of 30 percent to 50 percent, in a state with one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. As state legislators meet in their annual session this month and next, they will consider several bills designed to ease the financial woes of homeowner and condominium associations.

One bill, filed by state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, would allow associations to suspend residents from using common areas if they are three months or more behind paying fees. It also empowers associations to collect fees from renters, and prohibits association members from serving on the board if they are three months delinquent.

"These homeowner associations are crippled, and they're looking for any kind of edge," said Sarasota lawyer David Muller, co-executive director of the Community Association Leadership Lobby, which represents more than 4,000 associations. "But actually preventing a guest from accessing the gates — that's something that's going a little too far, in my opinion and when concerning the statutes."

But the law is on Stoneybrook's side, said Orlando lawyer Jim Gustino, who represents the 13-community golf-course development in Winter Garden. State Circuit Judge Thomas B. Smith ruled last year that the association for sister development Stoneybrook East, in east Orange County, could restrict guest access for residents who are 90 days late making payments and who were given the chance to start a payment plan.

"We have to bring whatever lawful pressure that we have to bear on these folks. No one feels good about it, but it does result in collecting money," Gustino said. "Many folks will, by some miracle, come up with the money they couldn't come up with before, because they don't want their family members to be denied entry."

As a result of such actions, Stoneybrook West's delinquency rate is 5 percent or 6 percent, Gustino said, but only because it has been aggressive in keeping residents up to date. Dozens of homeowners who face financial hardships have entered into payment plans, he said.

"If you don't take an aggressive enforcement position, you will discover you will be ignored," the lawyer said. "Associations try to be nice to people and try to be more accommodating than Stoneybrook West is with its people and, as a result, those association are in distress. They have to increase dues and, as a result, they have more defaults."

Stoneybrook's actions did raise some concerns among lawyers and other individuals who cited Florida statutes that require associations to provide access to their residents.

Veteran homeowner-association board member Hobie Fisher, who serves on two boards for the Avalon Lakes community in east Orange, said his board have been actively taking over properties in foreclosure. But prohibiting access to residents' guests, he said, is going too far.

"I think that's wrong. You can't deny people the right to come in there. You can't deny people and their guests the right to property," Fisher said.

Stoneybrook's prohibition of certain guests also raises concerns about gated communities. Fisher, half jokingly, said such subdivisions should just charge visitors a small toll to help underwrite community expenses.

Solis said her view of living behind gates has changed since the blockade began keeping her friends and family at bay.

"I moved here thinking, ‘A gated community, how nice,' " she said. "If I knew then what I know today, I would have never gotten into a gated community."

Gustino said the very expense of operating a guarded-and-gated entry makes it imperative that all residents pay their fair share of those security costs.

Solis estimated that she is behind about $1,400 on her association fees. She said she would like to get current, but her family's budget has been cut due to her husband's unemployment. She said she has been tolerating the gate situation for more than a year before she got fed up this week and decided to speak out.

"You know, I'm not going to back down because they try to intimidate you," she said. "At least I'm going to hold my head up."

38,000 hits in just over year, see stat counter

NEWS WANTED send to lakeashtontalk@yahoo.com

NEARLY BANKRUPT DEVELOPERS TRY TO FLEECE HOMEOWNERS

An Opinion By Jan Bergemann
President, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.
Published March 18, 2010

With the dead real estate market successfully killing all sales of new homes, many developers of new homeowners' associations are either already bankrupt -- or are on the brink of bankruptcy.

As they struggle to stay afloat, some of these developers try to force homeowners, who had already bought into these still developer-controlled homeowners’ associations, to pay for the deficits caused by the lack of new home sales and/or owners who fail to pay their dues.

We are getting more and more complaints from owners who are hit by special assessments and increased dues, causing them serious financial hardship. Unable to pay the special assessments and increased dues, other owners stop paying their fees -- and mortgages -- creating even more foreclosures.

The developer-controlled boards just call meetings, raise the dues and/or levy special assessments, no matter how loud the owners protest. Many owners give up and let their dream homes go, feeling helpless against the dictatorial power of the developers that threaten them with liens and foreclosure if they don't pay.

Don't give up so fast! Remember the schoolyard bullies wanting your lunch mon Check out your legal options before giving up on your life savings you invested in your dream home in the sunshine.

Lobbying efforts in the last few years created some protection against abusive developers that try to burden owners with costs the developers should be responsible for paying.

Florida Statutes 720.308 has quite a few provisions that hold developers responsible for funding any deficit and/or other cash funding requirements. Minimum on paper owners have many rights -- and it's worth an attempt to fight the developer that try to attempt to levy special assessments and/or increase the monthly dues!

All the owners who already bought into this community are in the same boat. That's why all owners should pull the same string. United owners have a lot of power!

If you are getting hit by special assessments and/or dues increases by the developer, just try the following steps:
1.) Organize your neighbors and form a group: UNITED YOU STAND!

2.) Request the financial documents, according FS 720.303(4) + (5) to see if the developer didn't violate the provisions of FS 720.308. Please use these GUIDELINES for your record request. No matter what excuses you might hear, the provisions of FS 720.303(4) + (5) are binding as well for developers.

Don't be intimidated, because the law is on your side. I always hear that owners are afraid of the deep pockets of developers. "They can afford the expensive attorneys and draw the lawsuits out for many years." These times are long gone. Many developers are barely holding their head above water. Especially the developers trying to make the owners pay for the community bills already have big unpaid legal bills. These developers are nearly drowning -- the deep pockets are already filled with lots of water!

And you have another big legal advantage:

FS 720.303 (8) ASSOCIATION FUNDS; COMMINGLING.--

(c) Association funds may not be used by a developer to defend a civil or criminal action, administrative proceeding, or arbitration proceeding that has been filed against the developer or directors appointed to the association board by the developer, even when the subject of the action or proceeding concerns the operation of the developer-controlled association.

That means that the developer can't use association funds to defend lawsuits brought against him or his appointed board.

Don't let the developer bully you. Fight for your homes and for your rights! United owners are a power any developer has to be afraid of -- if he is violating the Florida statutes!

ISN'T YOUR HOME WORTH FIGHTING FOR?

Hawaii considering law to ignore Obama 'birthers'

MARK NIESSE, Associated Press Writer Mark Niesse, Associated Press Writer – Wed Mar 17, 2:48 am ET

HONOLULU – Birthers beware: Hawaii may start ignoring your repeated requests for proof that President Barack Obama was born here.

As the state continues to receive e-mails seeking Obama's birth certificate, the state House Judiciary Committee heard a bill Tuesday permitting government officials to ignore people who won't give up.

"Sometimes we may be dealing with a cohort of people who believe lack of evidence is evidence of a conspiracy," said Lorrin Kim, chief of the Hawaii Department of Health's Office of Planning, Policy and Program Development.

So-called "birthers" claim Obama is ineligible to be president because, they argue, he was actually born outside the United States, and therefore doesn't meet a constitutional requirement for being president.

Hawaii Health Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino issued statements last year and in October 2008 saying that she's seen vital records that prove Obama is a natural-born American citizen.

But the state still gets between 10 and 20 e-mails seeking verification of Obama's birth each week, most of them from outside Hawaii, Kim said Tuesday.

A few of these requesters continue to pepper the Health Department with the same letters seeking the same information, even after they're told state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest. Responding wastes time and money, Kim said.

Both Fukino and the state registrar of vital statistics have verified that the Health Department holds Obama's original birth certificate.

The issue coincides with Sunshine Week, when news organizations promote open government and freedom of information.

"Do we really want to be known internationally as the Legislature that blocked any inquiries into where President Obama was born?" asked Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-Kaneohe-Kailua. "When people want to get more information, the way to fuel that fire is to say, 'We're now going to draw down a veil of secrecy.'"

Nobody at the hearing questioned the fact that the president was born in Hawaii.

Attorney Peter Fritz asked why the state would pass a law punishing repetitive requests for open records. Instead, the state could simply say it would only answer each person's question once.

If the measure passed, the state Office of Information Practices could declare an individual a "vexatious requester" and restrict rights to government records for two years.

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screen-room.jpg (JPEG Image, 145x123 pixels)

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TWO WOMEN...GONNA LOVE IT!!!

Two women were sitting next to each other at a bar. After a
while, one looks at the other and says, 'I can't help
but think, from listening to you, that you're from Ireland.

The other woman responds proudly, 'Yes, I sure am!'

The first one says, 'So am I! And where about in
Ireland are ya from?'

The other woman answers, 'I'm from Dublin, I am.'

The first one responds, 'So, am I!! And what
street did you live on in Dublin ?'

The other woman says, 'A lovely little area. It was in
the west end. I lived on Warbury Street in the old central
part of town.'

The first one says, 'Faith, and it's a small world.
So did I! So did I! And what school did ya go to?'

The other woman answers, 'Well now, I went to Holy
Heart of Mary, of course.'

The first one gets really excited and says, 'And so
did I! Tell me, what year did you graduate?'

The other woman answers, 'Well, now, let's see. I
graduated in 1964.'

The first woman exclaims, 'The Good Lord must be
smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck at
winding up in the same pub tonight! Can you believe
it? I graduated from Holy Heart of Mary in 1964 me self!

About this time, Michael walks into the bar, sits down, and
orders a beer.

Brian, the bartender, walks over to Michael shaking his
head and mutters, 'It's going to be a long night tonight.'

Michael asks, 'Why do you say that, Brian?'

Brian answers, 'The Murphy twins are drunk again.'

Congressional Reform Act of 2010

1. Term Limits: 12 years only, one of the possible options below...

A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

2. No Tenure / No Pension:

A congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when out of office.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career.. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security:

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system; Congress participates with the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, server your term(s), then go home and back to work.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan just as all Americans can.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

7. Congress must equally abide in all laws they impose on the American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

8. All contracts with past and present congressmen are void effective 1/1/11 .

The American people did not make this contract with congressmen; congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, serve your term(s), then go home and back to work.

OBITUARY

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning last November's Presidential election:


• Number of States won by: Obama: 19 McCain: 29
• Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 McCain: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million
McCain: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Obama: 13.2 McCain: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory McCain won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.

Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals, and they vote , then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.

If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake , knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

World's Shortest Man Pingping Dies Aged 21

SkyNews © Sky News 2010

The world's shortest man - who was just over 2ft 5in tall - has died aged 21, Guinness World Records has said. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
World's Shortest Man Pingping Dies Aged 21 Play video

He Pingping was a native of China who had a form of primordial dwarfism and measured 74.61cm.

The record-breaker had been in Rome to take part in a television show when he suffered chest problems.

He was taken to hospital but died over the weekend.

Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of London-based Guinness World Records, recalled measuring He in the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia in 2008.

"For such a small man, he made a huge impact around the world," Mr Glenday said.

"From the moment I laid on eyes on him, I knew he was someone special - he had such a cheeky smile and mischievous personality, you couldn't help but be charmed by him.

"He brightened up the lives of everyone he met, and was an inspiration to anyone considered different or unusual."

Guinness World Records said it would announce He's successor as the world's shortest man in due course.

Khagendra Thapa Magar, 18, from Nepal, who is reportedly 51cms (20in) tall, declared in February that he is the rightful holder of the title.

HEALTHCARE

Just a little update from DC on the progress of our national healthcare plan. I truly believe that Maxine says it all…!

Now, let me get this straight......we're trying to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president that also is exempt from it and hasn't read it and who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke.

What the hell could possibly go wrong?

Neighborhoods walk fine line in trying to rein in rentals

Article Courtesy of The St. Petersburg Times
By Marlene Sokol
Published March 14, 2010

Again and again, Brian Sudak complained about the succession of renters next door.

There was drug dealing. "We've had undercover narcotics agents on our porch," he said.

There was the family that vanished in the middle of the night. Years back, there was a manhunt and a police helicopter.

"We've lived in New York for most of our lives, and I never saw the need to buy a gun," Sudak said.
He felt differently in Riverview's Panther Trace.

And he became a regular at meetings of the homeowners association, which spent the latter half of last year pondering a ban on rentals.

As real estate prices remain depressed in the Tampa suburbs and homeowners are unwilling or unable to sell, it's a common question: At what point should a deed-restricted community hold the line against renters?

Panther Trace's community manager and board members declined to be interviewed. But Hillsborough sheriff's reports confirm that deputies were called to Newbridge Drive dozens of times last year, including several drug house complaints. Meeting minutes show the

A sign along a Carrollwood Village road advertises a townhouse. Panther Trace, Heritage Isles, FishHawk Ranch, even Cheval — they’re all dotted with rentals in this market.

homeowners association considered a number of alternatives, including a policy that would make an exception for military families.

The issue is not a simple one, association attorney Robert Tankel said. A liberal policy toward rentals can increase a property's value, especially in a resort-type area, he said. Limiting them can backfire if the properties wind up in foreclosure.

"There is no one-size-fits-all, or even a one-size-fits-most (solution)," Tankel said.

A way of life

Heritage Isles, in the heart of New Tampa, has always been known as a diverse, middle-income community.

It has a golf course but struggles to support it. Townhouse prices have dipped below $100,000.

And, almost since the community was developed in the late 1990s, there have been large numbers of renters.

"It's probably at least 25 percent rental, maybe 28 percent," said Michael Tillotson, the community manager.

The association offers a long checklist for landlords: They must submit proof of a contract with a landscaping company, a notarized lease, even a rental certificate issued by the city.

"We want to make sure that their investment is taken care of," said Tillotson, who said the community has not really had any problems with compliance.

Elsewhere, rentals are a more recent phenomenon.

Cheval, a gated, luxury community in Lutz, has seen a definite increase since the recession began, with some negative effects, said association president Tim McClain.

"The problem is that when renters come in, the owners very seldom tell them about our deed restrictions," he said. "When that happens, they

become more and more exposed, literally," referring to landscaping that falls below Cheval standards.

His board is trying to improve, not restrict, the renting process by reminding owners of their responsibilities. They have to, McClain said, because even Cheval has owners who cannot afford to stay and cannot afford to sell.

"Instead of losing their home, they might be able to generate enough income to keep it," McClain said.

In Lithia's FishHawk Ranch, Realtors Garth Jones and Heather Jenkins are turning rentals into a side business. They manage five rental homes in FishHawk and would like to handle as many as 50.

Advertising on the Internet as "Rent in FishHawk," they are reaching out to owners who don't want to sell now and residents who have either outgrown the family-oriented community or don't want a long-term commitment.

"I've had several people tell me that their kids graduated high school, they want to downsize, and they don't want to sell in this market," Jenkins said. "People want to live there. Obviously, the schools are good. There are things for kids to do, activities for the family."

A matter of quality

Rental managers are sometimes defensive about their role in a community. Typically, they say, they run their renters through background checks that are far more scrupulous than anything required of a homeowner.

"It's all dependent on your price point," said Rhonda Nappi, who manages several homes in Panther Trace.

Outside the neighborhood, she has had properties that fetched as little as $400. "When they're paying $950 and up, you get a different type of people," she said.
Rules hard to change

Social Security in trouble

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

It's time to start cashing them in.

For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year.

Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.

Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs — in the form of Treasury bonds — which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg's municipal offices.

Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn't be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come.

Social Security's shortfall will not affect current benefits. As long as the IOUs last, benefits will keep flowing. But experts say it is a warning sign that the program's finances are deteriorating. Social Security is projected to drain its trust funds by 2037 unless Congress acts, and there's concern that the looming crisis will lead to reduced benefits.

Paul Pontious

Paul, if you are such a good friend of the Lake Ashton Community why are you not at the CDD meetings and the HOA meetings prior to this HOA meeting? You are never at any of the meetings! Also why are you not helping with the cleaning of the trash along the side of the roads and also helping serve coffee on Monday. Why are you not helping with the people that have Chinese drywall? Paul what do you do besides call me an idiot in front of everybody and on all my posters write idiot. Only an idiot would do something like this. See you later idiot. All you can do is call numbers.

Great Orators

Great Orators of the Democrat Party

'One man with courage makes a majority.'
- Andrew Jackson

'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.'
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

'The buck stops here.'
- Harry S. Truman

'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.'
- John F. Kennedy

And from today's Genius Democrats..............

'It depends what your definition of 'Sex' is?''
- Bill Clinton

'That Obama - I would like to cut his NUTS off.'
- Jesse Jackson

'Those rumors are false .... I believe in the sanctity of marriage.'
- John Edwards

'I invented the Internet'
- Al Gore

'The next Person that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary beads up their ASS.'
- Joe Biden

' America is--is no longer, uh, what it--it, uh, could be, uh, what it was once was....uh, and I say to myself, 'uh, I don't want that future, uh, uh for my children.'
- Barack Obama

'I have campaigned in all 57 states.
- Barack Obama (Quoted 2008)

'You don't need God anymore, you have us Democrats.'
- Nancy Pelosi (Quoted 2006)

'Paying taxes is voluntary.'
- Sen. Harry Reid

'Bill is the greatest husband and father I know. No one is more faithful, true, and honest than he.'
- Hillary Clinton (Quoted 1998)

HOW LUCKY CAN WE BE TO HAVE SUCH BRILLIANT MINDS IN CHARGE OF OUR ONCE GREAT COUNTRY?

''Life's tough ........ it's even tougher if you're stupid.''
-- John Wayne

Welfare

I went down this morning to sign up my Dog for welfare. At first the lady said, Dogs are not eligible to draw welfare. So I explained to her that my Dog is unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and has no freaking clue who his Daddy is. So she looked in her policy book to see what it takes to qualify. My Dog gets his first check Friday. Damn this is a great country.