Sell My Timeshare NOW has launched a new program called, “Rental Assist.”

Many vacationers and travelers already know that renting timeshare is an excellent way to enjoy spacious accommodations at great resorts. After all, why not stay in a timeshare where you are likely to have a full kitchen (sometimes with in-suite washers and dryers) and dining space for the family? Instead of renting multiple hotel or motel rooms, why not rent a timeshare that sleeps four, six, even eight or ten? Most families today no longer share one bathroom and one TV at home, so why do it when you go on vacation?

Renting timeshare is a true win-win for both the timeshare renter and the timeshare owner who uses his vacation property as a rental. If you cannot use your timeshare right now, and you can’t or don’t wish to bank it, then it only makes sense to use it as a timeshare rental. Timeshare owners offset some of the ongoing costs of owning timeshare. Vacationers who want to rent rather than buy timeshare, get to enjoy the accommodations and amenities of a luxurious timeshare resort.

Renting Timeshare at Sell My Timeshare NOW

So far this year, offers to rent timeshare at Sell My Timeshare NOW have exceeded $18 million—and remember that is not money that goes to a timeshare developer, a timeshare management company, or even to us at Sell My Timeshare NOW—this is money that goes straight to the person or couple that owns the timeshare.

But Rental Assist is only going to make renting timeshare even better. We are taking our timeshare rental services to the next level by offering in-house matching services for timeshare owners who want to use their timeshare as a rental and vacationers who want to enjoy renting timeshare at competitive prices.

If you’d like to find out more about Rental Assist, call our timeshare specialist at: (877) 815-4227

Visit our website at www.sellmytimesharenow.com

Or read our newest press release on Rental Assist from Sell My Timeshare NOW.

What a great time to spend Canadian dollars on US timeshare! I know I have mentioned this before, but with the value of Canada’s loonie strong to the US dollar, Canadians have never been better positioned to buy timeshare or rent timeshare in the United States.

And since Canadians are quickly realizing this, there have been a number of articles on timeshares and vacation ownership in the Canadian press lately with good advice for anyone who wants to buy timeshare or buy timeshare resales. But, I was particularly impressed with an article I read in Canada.com, titled, “No such thing as a free lunch“. Reporter Sandy Fife has done an excellent job of defining the pitfalls (many) and the benefits (a few) of attending timeshare promotions in order to enjoy a reduced rate vacation.

Notwithstanding the fact that a timeshare promotion deal may enable you to take a vacation with free or deeply discounted rates, and provides you an excellent chance to try before you buy timeshare, the high-pressure tactics of some salespeople may offset the value of what would have otherwise been a relaxing vacation.

If You Attend a Timeshare Presentation…

Fife offers the following good suggestions for surviving a timeshare promotion:

• Choose a reputable name in the hotel and/or timeshare resort industry for your free (or reduced) getaway.
• Be very careful if you choose to respond to a timeshare promotion that contacts you only by email or phone solicitation.
• And lastly, she says, don’t even think about going if you are susceptible to high-pressure sales pitches.

As one seasoned veteran of enjoying timeshare promotions was quoted as saying, “You should never buy at a presentation, because time-shares cost much less on resale.” I couldn’t have said that better myself.

If you have ever considered going on a timeshare promotion vacation, just to enjoy the perks that come with it, take a few minutes and read the Canada.com article first. And if you want to sidestep the sales rush and developer prices, go straight to shopping timeshare resales.

When you visit the website for Sell My Timeshare NOW, we don’t give you free tickets to theme parks, or a coupon good for breakfast, but you can browse and peruse our huge inventory of timeshare resales and timeshare rentals as much, and as often as you like. You can show up in your pajamas or your favorite sweats, and from the comfort and convenience of your personal computer, you can take your time selecting the timeshare vacation option that is right for you. Best of all, what you save when you buy timeshare resales instead of paying developer prices, will help you pay for future vacations—vacations that don’t involve sitting through sales presentations.

Here are links to a few of the timeshare resorts from which you can choose at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

• Bluegreen Timeshare
• Marriott Timeshare
• Shell Vacations Club Timeshare
• Starwood (including Westin and Sheraton) Timeshare
• Fairfield, WorldMark / Trendwest Timeshare
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club Timeshare
• Westgate Timeshare
• Mayan Palace Timeshare
• Orange Lake Timeshare

In yesterday’s Timeshare Owners Blog, I asked for information from anyone who had real facts about the situation at Royal Oasis timeshare resort in the Bahamas. Sell My Timeshare NOW received the following letter, directed to my attention.

Thank you, Mr. Phillips. I hope you will continue to keep us updated on the situation of timeshare owners at Royal Oasis, and I will share your insights with our timeshare blog readers

Mr. Tremblay:

I read with interest your article about the sale of the Royal Oasis resort on your blog, and I also read the linked article in the Dublin newspaper. Please be aware that my law office and a law office in Florida filed a class action in Florida federal district court in June of 2006 on behalf of timeshare owners against the defaulting owner (Driftwood) of the resort and against WHI, the prior purported buyer of the resort. Neither entity bothered to respond to the lawsuit.

We are proceeding in federal court to certify the case as a class action. For some time, we have also been trying to negotiate a settlement with Lehman Brothers and Harcourt on behalf of timeshare owners (neither entity was named in the lawsuit). Harcourt has failed to negotiate despite our repeated requests and, instead, has chosen to contact timeshare owners directly via Rudy Meadows.

We are very concerned that Harcourt’s attempted end-run around the class action, and the fact that some timeshare owners are represented by legal counsel, will benefit Harcourt at the expense of the timeshare owners. A cursory reference in a newspaper article that the timeshare owners’ contracts will be honored has little meaning beyond its public relations value. How are these contracts to be honored? Satisfying the timeshare owners for what they lost is not the same for all. The various categories of owners demonstrates that a simple claim that the contracts will be honored is no panacea. For example, some timeshare owners continued to pay for months and years despite the resort being closed while others stopped paying immediately, some timeshare contracts have terminated with timeshare owners purchasing other timeshares, some timeshare owners may no longer want a timeshare at the resort, etc. Moreover, the form timeshare agreement believed to be widely used at the resort indicates that if a member is unable to use a unit as a result of damage to the unit for an insured peril, then the resort is required to either provide alternate accommodation or a pro-rata refund based on the number of weeks lost. So, the question remains — what does “honoring” the timeshare agreement mean?

There is no one quick fix that will make the class of timeshare owners whole. A detailed settlement has to be negotiated that protects the timeshare owners. Timeshare owners should be suspect of any blanket proposal by Harcourt which may require the timeshare owners to release their rights when signing any new deal.

Harcourt has repeatedly ignored our requests to negotiate which has us concerned for the timeshare owners.

Carlin J. Phillips
PHILLIPS & GARCIA, P.C.
13 Ventura Drive
N. Dartmouth, MA 02747
508-998-0800 x 112

Consumer Trial Lawyers

Continuing from yesterday’s Timeshare Owners Blog about the situation at Royal Oasis timeshare resort, today’s blog looks at things from the perspective of timeshare owners.

Until yesterday’s post, the last blog I wrote about circumstances at this Caribbean timeshare resort was March 7, 2007. At that time, I was quoting the Freeport News as saying that Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie and former Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe were both hinting at a pending purchase of the resort. So here it is, eight months later, but finally, that sale may be about to happen.

Since the timeshare resort’s closing during the 2004 hurricane season, rumors of the sale of Royal Oasis have taken on the credibility of the boy who cried wolf. However last April, Harcourt Developments, a Dublin, Ireland based property development, management and investment company, surfaced as the front-runner in the rumor mill. But it appears that this time the news is solid, and Harcourt Developments is ready to finalize the deal to purchase the Royal Oasis resort. According to an article that appeared in Dublin’s Sunday Business Post Online, the $40 million deal is nearly completed.

Harcourt has gone so far as to notify people who own Royal Oasis timeshare, telling them that their contracts will be honored. The Nassau Guardian says, “All 3,000 timeshare owners at the Royal Oasis resort appear to have won the war they’ve waged for the last three years.”

The article went on to say it is unclear whether “the government or Lehman Brothers has offered to help cover the cost of restoring timeshare owners to the position they held before 2004.” Obie Wilchcombe, according to the Nassau Guardian, “suggested that a struggling Freeport could ill afford not to satisfy those investors, given the potential for them to mount a negative campaign against a newly renovated Royal Oasis as planned by Harcourt.”

Lehman Brothers’ role in the Royal Oasis debacle is that they stepped in to control the property when former owner Driftwood, failed to meet their mortgage obligations.

Royal Oasis Timeshare Owners, Let Us Hear From You

If you own timeshare at this resort, and have received a letter from Harcourt Developments, the Timeshare Owners Blog would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment on this post, letting us know what’s happening or post comments on our Timeshare Owners Forum. We’d really like to get our news on this subject from the people with the clearest perspective—the timeshare owners at Royal Oasis!