Timeshare Trends Blog

Ultimate Escapes has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Kissimmee, Florida based luxury timeshare company has listed assets of $10 million to $50 million with debts of $100 to $500 million. According to a recent Orlando Sentinel story, Ultimate Escapes has been trying to sell its vacation club to another destination club, hospitality company or investment group. The company has grown to become the second largest luxury destination club with 1,100 members and more than 100 properties valued from $1 million to $3 million each in 65 resort locations from Italy to Costa Rica. Membership fees have ranged from $70,000 to $200,000 or more with annual dues of $8,000 to $16,000.

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Florida passes new law on timeshare foreclosures. The governor of Florida recently signed into law a measure that gives much needed relief to timeshare owners associations and developers from the lengthy judicial processes for timeshare interest foreclosures. The “Trustee Foreclosure” bill promises to help reduce the time and cost involved in reclaiming timeshare interests from owners who are delinquent in paying their maintenance fees, assist timeshare developers in recovering inventory from owners who are unable to make their mortgage payments, and prevent thousands of timeshare foreclosure cases from being filed with the Florida courts already overwhelmed by residential foreclosure cases. The trustee foreclosure will shorten the time to complete a foreclosure action from as long as 18 months to as little as 90 days.

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Recovery Resources sued by Florida JB’s Omega Tours, which does business as Recovery Resources, offered refunds to timeshare resale customers for fees from consumers, but they never secured their refunds, according to investigators from the Attorney General’s office of Florida. The Broward County resale advertising company that claimed to be working with the state attorney general’s office was recently sued by the state and ordered to stop claiming to be working to protect consumers. The Attorney General wants JB’s Omega Tours to refund customer’s money and stay out of the timeshare refund business.

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The Florida Courts rule that an out-of-state real estate broker must be licensed and cannot accept advance fees for selling a timeshare. On July 8, 2009, the Circuit Court for Leon County in Florida ruled that Stroman Realty, a Texas real estate broker, violated Florida law by not becoming licensed in the State of Florida, and could not collect an advance fee for listing a timeshare.

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The Florida legislature has again trampled on the rights of timeshare owners. The legislature is determined to make it as difficult as possible to resell a timeshare. The reason for this is simple. The timeshare developers have lobbyists, and the timeshare consumer does not!

Let me explain.

Timeshare developers are continuing to sell new timeshare weeks. These weeks can sell for $20,000 or more per week. Their biggest problems are existing timeshare owners who want to resell their timeshare.. Resales can be priced at as much as 50% less than the price the developer charges.

So why would a purchaser want to buy a timeshare from a developer when they can buy the same or a similar property for ½ the price? GOOD QUESTION.

If the timeshare owner buys from an existing owner, than the developer does not earn the profit from the sale. Enter the Florida legislature. They are doing everything possible to make it impossible to resell a timeshare. Does this hurt the consumer? Yes. Does this benefit the timeshare developer and their lobbyists? Yes.

Their latest gambit is to add a retroactive “disclosure” law. This law requires the disclosure of sales and not rentals. Are rentals more prevalent than sales in these tough economic times? Of course. But why have resale companies actually disclose good statistics when that defeats the purpose. The law also imposes retroactive disclosure requirements, and very onerous penalties for non-compliance.

Fairness would dictate that the same “disclosure” requirements would be imposed when the developer “tries” to resell your timeshare (If you think that they will try to resell your timeshare when they are trying to sell their own inventory that they make more profit from I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to you.).

Incredibly, the timeshare developer does not have the same disclosure requirement!!

It is time to voice your anger at this outrageous conduct by the Florida legislature.

Please email your support to info@timsharesbyowner.com by signing the following petition that is listed below stating your displeasure with the Florida legislature.

I HEREBY OBJECT TO THE CONDUCT OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE IN TRAMPLING ON THE RIGHTS OF TIMESHARE OWNERS WHO ARE TRYING TO SELL OR RENT THEIR TIMESHARE IN THESE TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES. I HEREBY DEMAND THE REPEAL OF SECTION 721.20(9) FLORIDA STATUTES.

(Include your name, city and state of residence).

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Florida legislators recently signed into law a bill allowing timeshare companies the ability to sell policies under which they would let buyers walk away from their mortgages if they lose their income. The “debt-cancellation” policies have been made by carmakers, which have offered them in hopes of convincing nervous consumers to make a big-ticket purchase even as unemployment continues to rise.

The bill permits timeshares to sell such policies by ensuring that it won’t be considered insurance, sparing the companies from strict oversight by insurance regulators. Included in the legislation was a law ensuring that rentals of timeshares are not taxable when they are booked through exchanges, such as those run by RCI and the Miami-based Interval International, or when they are booked as part of certain promotional packages. However, it also makes it clear that timeshares are subject to taxes when they are rented for cash, much like hotel rooms. Most timeshare operators already follow that practice.

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