I am not saying that the way to go is through a tour operator, we have been travelling to Florida for 20 years and have not booked through a tour operator for at least 15 years. In reply to the original post I was just pointing out that repossession of a villa is not the only problem you may encounter!
We stay on Anna Maria Island, I am not aware of any villas on this forum being available in this area, hence the booking was made elsewhere, there was a management company, however the guy in question who lived in England had bypassed them and put it down as an owner booking, so no help was offered by them.

Sue