I came across this story in my weekly "bundle of timeshare news" via Google.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2013/03/timeshare-industry-lobbyists-run-into-trouble-in-the-house.html
This is a HUGE story affecting millions of timeshare owners that is getting very little coverage.
Here's a summary of what's going on:
A bid by the time-share industry to block unhappy owners from dumping their properties by selling to companies that don’t plan to pay the often-hefty annual dues ran into trouble Friday in the House Regulatory Affairs Committee.
An eleventh-hour amendment to what was otherwise seen as an innocuous “glitch bill” (HB 7025) would make it illegal for time-share owners to transfer their properties to buyers whom they know or should “reasonably know” do not have the “ability, means or intent” to pay all annual assessments and taxes on the property.
Jason Gamel, a lobbyist for the American Resort Development Association, the time-share lobby, said such sales were a problem that is currently “plaguing” the industry as vulture buyers try to take advantage of rock-bottom resale prices, which have collapsed since the global economic collapse.
So now the timeshare industry is blaming the "global economic collapse" for the rock-bottom resale prices? And the industry is the one being "plagued?" How about the individual owner?
I'm no legal expert, but to me, this seems like a very slippery slope. What's next? Will owners be locked into their timeshares forever and ever with no way out?
Someone had better wake up and start giving this the press that it deserves. And timeshare owners had better start paying attention.
3 comments:
More and more we found out about this industry the less we are interested to continue with it.Something have to change.
The solution again is to limit your liability for your timeshare ownership to the timeshare itself.
Make it just illegal for anyone to pursue you for dues, to credit bureau you if you don't pay, to try to collect from you at all, you should be able to notify the facility that you are abandoning your timeshare estate and they got it, and there should be no recourse for them. Just like other types of real estate.
If this were instituted, you, the timeshare owner would become an important customer and the timeshare company would have to keep you happy and paying or you would walk and dump them. They would need you!
As it is now they could give a darn about timeshare owners. You have no value to them, they have thousands of people like you. They don't *need* you. I for one want to always be an important customer. I want people I do business with to be darned glad I there and treat me accordingly.
This is the problem with timeshare. Customers have no value. Once they got your money from you they couldn't care less about you.
They can make it difficult or impossible for you to use what you bought and paid for. They take things away that you thought you bought. They can charge you an unlimited assessment and if you don't pay they can credit bureau you and ruin your credit if you don't pay.
Even if you don't want to ever go back to that resort.
That is just ridiculous.
It's so very sad that the bad guys in the timeshare industry have been able to take something as good as "vacation" and turned it into something horrible.
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