This is HUGE news.
Things are getting quite interesting in Arizona, which while not quite the hotbed of timeshare activity that Florida is, is still an important state.
House Bill 2639 which has already passed UNANIMOUSLY out of the House Committee on Regulatory Affairs contains some major points. Among them:
>It would make it possible for people who buy a timeshare and keep it for at least ten years to simply walk away from it if they no longer want it
>Doubling the current rescission period from 7 days to 14 days
> Another quasi-rescission period that would a secondary ‘rescission’ period which would allow buyers to opt out within 14 days of actually using their timeshare and be entitled to 90% of their money back (Someone has obviously read my blog about a “timeshare restocking fee”
You can read the entire Bill here:
ARDA; the organization that represents the timeshare industry, is very much against the bill, or at least large portions of it to no one’s surprise. Don Isaacson, one of ARDA’s lobbyists was quoted in an article by the Arizona Capitol Times which you can read in it’s entirety here https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2019/02/19/timeshare-bill-passes-out-of-house-committee/
“This bill goes too far. No state allows someone to simply give back a unit after 10 years.”
More telling and insane he said “The
state should not step in to protect people who didn’t bother to understand the nature of the deal.” He continued, “You are buying real estate, you are buying it as an adult. You read the documents and unless there is fraud, you are bound to that particular purchase.”
BUYING REAL ESTATE? READ THE DOCUMENTS? Seriously? The vast majority of timeshares being sold by developers these days have little to no relation to real estate, they’re simply an allocation of points that allow the purchaser, and the general public alike, the right to access an oftentimes Byzantine reservation system. No one is given the full set of documents until after they’ve signed on the dotted line. I wonder if Mr Isaacson has ever been on the receiving end of a timeshare sales pitch. I’m kidding of course, I don’t wonder at all.
In another article, Mr Issacson was quoted as saying, “The state should not step in to protect people who didn’t bother to understand the nature of the deal." I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
If you live in Arizona, or quite frankly own timeshare in Arizona, I urge you to contact one or more of these legislators and let them know your thoughts on the subject.
Bolick, Shawnna (602) 926-3244 SBOLICK@azleg.gov (Bill sponsor)
Biasiucci, Leo (602) 926-3018 LBIASIUCCI@azleg.gov
Blackman, Walter (602) 926-3043 WBLACKMAN@azleg.gov
Carroll, Frank (602) 926-3249 FCARROLL@azleg.gov
Dunn, Timothy M. (602) 926-4139 TDUNN@azleg.gov
Fillmore, John (602) 926-3187 JFILLMORE@azleg.gov
Finchem, Mark (602) 926-3122 MFINCHEM@azleg.gov
Grantham, Travis (602) 926-4868 TGRANTHAM@azleg.gov (Committee Chair)
Kavanagh, John (602) 926-5170 JKAVANAGH@azleg.gov
Payne, Kevin (602) 926-4854 KPAYNE@azleg.gov
Roberts, Bret (602) 926-3158 BROBERTS@azleg.gov
Toma, Ben (602) 926-3298 BTOMA@azleg.gov
Weninger, Jeff (602) 926-3092 JWENINGER@azleg.gov
I’m glad that someone in Arizona at least is paying here. Consumers have gotten the bad end of a deal for too long. It’s about time to increase consumers’ rights and bring some transparency to timeshare.
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