florida as too many Golf Courses!

WHY SHOULD OTHERS PAY FOR GOLF PLAYERS’ ENTERTAINMENT?

By Jan Bergemann

Published September 6, 2013

   

For years, we’ve heard or read about the lawsuits that occur when associations buy "bankrupt" golf courses from developers, or when associations make golf club memberships "mandatory." Thus, the golf course curse begins!

  

Let’s make no mistake! It happens all over Florida, and these lawsuits, normally, end up being very expensive, costing vast amounts of time and money. And, sadly, they are also costly to relationships within the community: neighbor turning against neighbor.

  

But, we always hear: "It is contract law! You knew what you were getting into!"

Which is exactly why the status quo should stay as is! It’s all about the contract!

Did the contract state that the community owns the golf course or that membership in the golf club is "mandatory" for all homeowners? Read Carefully!

Just because the golf course/club gets into financial trouble is not a valid reason to saddle non-golfing residents, who never intended to play golf or be a member of the golf club, with expenses. To me, common sense dictates that the folks who want to play golf should pay for their own entertainment, not force their neighbors to finance their fun.

Other reasons for so many golf club community lawsuits reside in the facts:

• Florida has too many golf courses;
• The cost of maintaining an 18-hole golf course has about doubled in the last seven (7) years;
• The number of golfers in Florida is decreasing, according to the PGA; and
• The generation of new retirees, the baby-boomers, is not as eager to play golf as the former generation.

Thus, we can see why so many golf courses are in financial trouble today and are closing their doors.

  

No matter what the proponents of HOA’s purchasing a golf course or making golf club membership mandatory tell you, a golf course is not improving the property values of the homes in the association. A golf course is a serious financial liability; and, in many communities, it is dragging down property values.

  

The former sales incentive that caused buyers to pay extra has turned into a curse! And any board members and golf fanatics who are still "gung-ho," trying to buy a golf course for the community, offered by a near bankrupt developer, have either not learned anything from the past examples, or they just want their neighbors to pay for their entertainment.

  

You’re still not convinced that a golf course is more a curse than a smart investment?

  

Florida’s media reported a myriad of golf course lawsuits: Golf Course Curses. Please read the following articles; you’ll understand the reference to "Curses":

Passport Application Letter

 

This is a hoot.  Hope you enjoy:

Passport Application Letter - Hilarious

        

THIS IS PRICELESS: ACTUAL PASSPORT APPLICATION LETTER SENT BACK TO STATE DEPARTMENT

Dear Mrs. Ms. Or Sir: I'm in the process of renewing my passport and still cannot believe this. How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a cable TV from them in 1987 (23 years ago), and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date. For Christ's sake, do you guys do this by hand? Ever heard of computers?

My birth date you have in my social security file. It's on EVERY income tax form I've filed for the past 35+ years. It's on my Medicare health insurance card and my driver's license, it's on the last eight damned passports I've had, it's on every stupid customs declaration form I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane for the last 30+ years. And it's on all those census forms that we have to do at election time. Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'm reasonably confident that neither name is likely to change between now and when I die.

Between you and me, I've had enough of this bureaucratic bullshit: You send the application to my house, then ask me for my #*&#%*& address.  What is going on?  You must have a gang of bureaucratic Neanderthal morons working there! Look at my damn picture.  Do I look like Bin Laden?  And "No," I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes. I just want to go and park my ass on a sandy beach. And would someone please tell me, why would you give a damn whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone!

Well, I have to go now because I have to go to the other end of the city and get another #*@&#^@*@ copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $100. Would it be so difficult to have all the services in the same area so I could get a new passport the same day? Nooooo, that would require planning and organization. And it would be too logical for the @&^*^%@% government. You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off. Then, we have to find some asshole to confirm that it's really me in the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile.

Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're totally pissed off!

Signed- An Irate Citizen.

P.S. Remember what I wrote about getting someone to confirm that the picture is me? Well, my family has been in the United States of America since 1776. I have served in the military for something over 35 years and have had security clearances up the ying yang. However, I have to get someone important to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor....WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN INDIA ! And you assholes want to run our health care system?????