A dusty toy train sitting in the driveway near an abandoned child’s sand and water activity set were among the final reminders of who was living in Jan Ferguson’s small Sun City rental home during the first six months of 2025.

They were among the final remnants of what had happened from Christmas to Memorial Day, as Ferguson and her son worked diligently in early June to clean up and take back their property that had become overcome with “stuff,” including piles of children’s clothes – hampers filled with children’s socks – and boxes of toys.

It was evidence that a young family with multiple children under 19 were living in an active adult community meant for their much older relative.

And it was a situation that Ferguson had never dreamed of, given her closeness with the rightful renter of the property, with whom she had grown a deep friendship.

“The part that truly breaks my heart is having to evict a tenant that me and my family truly cared about, in order to get a family member with young children to move out,” Ferguson said. “My renters become like family.”

The woman renting the home had suffered significant family losses and was struggling in late 2024, Ferguson said, so she wanted to brighten up her holidays. “My daughter in law and I took her Thanksgiving dinner,” Ferguson said. “We checked on her every couple of days. And she told me – you don’t need to worry about Christmas, because my grandson will be here.”

From there, Ferguson lost track of her renter.

And gained a new resident – the grandson, his wife and three underage children, who were suddenly living in the home without her renter.

Ferguson did not know what to do.

Rent was no longer paid. The house fell into disrepair – the carpets covering with stains, the garage packed to the ceiling, rooms filling with walls of plastic storage bins, and her renter’s medical equipment and medications strewn all over the floors.

“I was lost at how to proceed, but the first thing I thought of was SCHOA – maybe they can help,” Jan said. “My daughter in law and I met with Kristine Schmitz, the compliance manager, and Lisa Gray, the general manager of SCHOA, and they were so supportive. It was a great relief to gain the guidance we needed from their experience in handling similar situations. Mine was complicated, but we left armed with the steps we needed to start the eviction process.”

Throughout the process, she said she learned that her renter was living elsewhere for medical reasons.

“The best thing that Jan did was to contact us and explain what was going on,” said Schmitz. “As we always explain, every property has a story, and they are all unique stories, from start to finish - so what we can do to help will differ case by case. But just talking to us and working with us in itself, is going to help. If you are having any issues with compliance, I encourage you, whatever the case, to call us and let us work with you and share our knowledge and support.”

For impacted neighbors of compliance issues, Schmitz added, “Please understand that the timeline of our ability to achieve results will also differ case by case depending upon any unique legal processes involved. That does not mean we are not diligently working on each and every property.”

“I believe the community would agree that maintaining the age overlay in Sun City, which requires at least one resident to be 55 or older, and all other residents to be at least 19, is imperative,” said Gray. “This is one of the primary responsibilities of SCHOA. We appreciate property owners working with us when issues like this arise and while sometimes there are legal issues and processes that need to be addressed, as Kristine did in this case, she worked alongside the property owner.”

This case is an important reminder of why membership to SCHOA is so important.

“Many people don’t realize that our membership is voluntary, despite the CC&Rs being mandatory. The more members we have who support our efforts, the more we can do with all of the cases we receive, from weeds to something as big as an age overlay violation,” Schmitz said. “Our annual household membership is the best $25 you will ever invest in your property.”

In 2024, SCHOA’s Compliance Team handled more than 120 age overlay complaints, and has had 60 filed year to date in 2025.

Ferguson said since her experience, her son and daughter in law have also become members of SCHOA, out of gratitude for the help they have received to get through the emotional process.

“I never dreamed I would be dealing with such a challenging situation, but I also never expected to get the help and support I have from SCHOA’s Compliance team,” Ferguson said. “My advice for anyone in Sun City is let SCHOA know what is going on. SCHOA is so supportive, and they can help if they know what is going on. I used to think SCHOA just watched over weeds and landscaping and now I know they are a lot more than that. They offer positive support and connect you to important resources that I needed more than you can imagine.”

To learn more about SCHOA and becoming a member, visit www.SunCityHOA.org/Membership or contact SCHOA at 623-974-4718.