The United States Virgin Islands won't have a timeshare amendment added to the books this year, after newly elected Governor Albert Bryan took a strong, independent stance and vetoed Timeshare Bill 32-0351. The American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the industry trade group of developers in the United States, drafted what it called a new set of "model laws" that would take recent changes in the industry into account.
What were those changes? In the most basic terms, the current laws in the USVI are similar to most states in the U.S. which are structured around the sale of deeded timeshare ownership, which is real property, as opposed to what many consider a service contract of a points club membership which do not involve any real estate interest whatsoever. Today, nearly every major resort developer sells a points model program with only a small number still selling the original deeded vacation product. So ARDA worked to get their bill sponsored and lobbied aggressively to get it passed through the territory's legislature.
Many observers agreed that this bill favored developers to the detriment of the consumer. Last year, ARDA also filed litigation against the territory after the "timeshare room tax" was deleted and replaced with an impact fee that appeared to have no difference in cost to consumers, but had apparently never been enforced. Developers said those extra fees would make it more difficult for them to sell vacation club points to members.
While ARDA was seeking to get its "model" amendments added to the existing laws, both the litigation and perhaps more importantly the recent changes to the vacation club product seem to have crossed the Govenor's desk at the same time. In one of his first acts, he decided not to sign the bill and requested instead that the legislature act on a comprehensive overhaul of the timeshare sales regime to include ownership rights, sales protocols, licensing and regulation of salespersons, property taxation reporting and foreclosure.
This more stringent overhaul sends a clear message that Governor Bryan is not willing to settle for the same old practices that have been in place and perhaps signals that consumers need more protection than had been previously granted them in the US Virgin Islands.
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